And Then Came A Lion (Lions and Lambs Book 1) (22 page)

Rab held out several large garbage bags. Brian took one and accepted the plastic gloves. It took nearly an hour with both of them working to remove all the blood and tissue. Finished, they carried the bags upstairs and placed them in the trunk of a junked out old car.

Rab held out a set of keys. “Dispose of those.”

“Where?”

“Use your skills.”

Right. Brian took the keys and climbed into the driver’s seat. He pulled out of the compound and headed into the city. After prowling around several abandoned buildings, he parked next to a large commercial dumpster at a construction site. He scanned the area. It appeared clear. Not even any of the city’s numerous homeless were within sight.

He pulled the bags out of the trunk and threw them into the dumpster. He drove several blocks to an old subdivision and parked in front of a row of abandoned houses. He got out, caught a city bus to his apartment, grabbed his duffel bag and his cash, and left. Outside, checked for any observers. When he was certain the area was safe, he hustled down the street and disappeared into the city’s underground. Next stop, anywhere but Seattle.

***

The area was much darker than Susannah had anticipated. The proximity of the houses in conjunction with the privacy fences shut out most of the light coming from the streetlights, and the predicted full moon had yet to rise, if that would make any difference.

She skirted around the front of the house, crossed the back yard, and pressed up against the back corner of the home. She peered into the side yard. Better. Light from the streetlight didn’t illuminate the area, but the man’s form was plainly visible against the lighter background. He worked at the screen. When loose, he set it on the ground, leaning it against the house, and turned back to the window. The moment he slid it open, Susannah stepped forward.

“Stop!”

The man turned toward her. Susannah pressed the button down on the pepper spray and the red vapor spewed out in a wide arc, catching the man full in the face. He screamed, stumbled in the opposite direction, and collapsed on the front lawn. Without taking her eyes off the prostrate form, Susannah called 911.

“What is your emergency?”

“I want to report a prowler…”

Lights flicked on in the room. Susannah moved back into deeper shadows. A man leaned out, cell phone in hand. Good, a second corroboration never hurt.

She finished her phone call and hung up. The man still lay moaning in the front yard, now bathed with light from the front porch. The man with the phone, presumably the girl’s dad, stood on the front step watching the pedophile. Even better, another pair of eyes with enough motivation to ensure the felon stayed until the cops showed up.

Staying out of sight behind hedges and in deep shadows, Susannah went back to her car. With shaking hands, she poured coffee from her thermos, and settled down to wait.

Someone tapped on the passenger door window. Val.

Susannah unlocked the door.

Val climbed in. “Don’t look so shocked. I didn’t say I never wanted to see you again. I just needed some time to think.”

Susannah shrugged. “How long have you been here?”

“I followed you from the house.”

“And you said nothing?”

“I didn’t need to.”

Visualizing the effects of the pepper spray, she couldn’t argue that point.

“You know this is against all my training, against everything I have known to be true. You have rent a hole in my world, Susannah, and I don’t know what to do.”

“You could trust me.”

“I trusted you enough to show up tonight.”

“Out of curiosity, full of skepticism. You didn’t come out of trust.”

“Guilty, but remember, by profession I deal with facts, scientifically provable facts. What you told me is in whole other realm. So, please, hear me out.

“I do love you and can’t even think of letting you go. I know, even though I do not quite understand it, you aren’t lying. You aren’t some nut case looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. Something is going on, something I’ve never been confronted with, and I need to keep an open mind until I know all the facts.”

“Oh, Val. There are no facts. It’s just visions, dreams – a knowing that something is going to happen.”

“If I promise to listen and not judge, will you try explaining it to me again?”

“I’ll try ― if you truly want me to, otherwise, just end it now.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Susannah, I promise I’ll never hurt you again, never. These last few days have been hell for me too.”

They sat, holding hands. Val listened to every word, grimacing with the description of her attack, nodding when she vowed to stop the men, silent and thoughtful when she repeated her visions, and dreams.

She fell silent, staring out across the street. The police had the pedophile in custody, but through inexperience or carelessness, cuffed his hands in front, not behind as they should.

“Val.”

He saw it too. Before he could get out of the car, the felon smashed one officer in the face, grabbed the gun from the other officer’s holster, and fired. Both men were down. He snagged the keys to the handcuffs and ran.

Val pursued. Susannah bolted from the car and followed, but lagged too far behind. She continued running, pausing at the corner. Shots came from her left. She ran harder. After several false turns, she found Val slumped on the ground next to a fence. The pedophile was not in sight.

She knelt next to Val. He was conscious, but bleeding profusely from a shoulder wound.

“Hang on, I’ll call 911.”

He nodded.

With directions from the dispatcher, she started first aid and listened for the sirens.

A child’s cry rent the air. Susannah looked up. The sound came from the empty house behind Val. The cry turned to whimpering. She stood.

Val looked up at her. “What?”

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Another cry.

“That.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“There’s a child in that empty house. It sounds hurt.”

“That is unlikely. Don’t go in there, wait for the police.”

“I can’t let the child suffer.”

“Don’t go in there, Susannah.”

She placed his hand over the makeshift bandage she’d made from his shirt. “Press that tight.”

“Susannah.”

Ignoring his plea, she ran up the walk to the front door. The old porch squeaked and grumbled under her weight. The door hung half open, revealing a black interior. Anything could be in there.

Again, the child cried out.

Susannah slipped through into the interior. The acrid stench of rotten wood, rancid water, and rodent droppings assaulted her senses. She stifled the gag reflex and listened. Whimpering came from a back room.

Using bits of light from street lamps shining through gaps in the boarded windows, she crept toward the sound. Each footstep caused the rotted floor to creak and groan. She pushed further into the darker shadows, guided by the heart-wrenching cries.

They emanated from a room at the very back of the house. She pushed the door opened. Something slithered into the far corner. She moved further inside, squinting in a vain effort to adjust to the blackness.

From behind her came a roar and a horrific blast of heat. She spun around. Flames blocked the doorway and quickly spread along the tender dry boards. Susannah ran to the window. It wouldn’t budge. She kicked at the glass. It refused to shatter. The heat intensified.

A raspy voice hissed in her ear. “Now you
will
die.”

Susannah shook her head. “No!”

The fire now covered three walls and most of the ceiling. She kicked repeatedly at the stubborn windowpane. It bent, but refused to break.

“Susannah.”

The old Indian stood on the other side of the flames, beckoning to her.

“I can’t!”

The heat intensified. Roiling black smoke filled the room. She gasped for air.

Again, the old Indian beckoned.

She shook her head. “I can’t!”

“Susannah, trust me.”

Keeping her eyes fixed on the old Indian and not on the flames, she stepped forward.

There were no flames.

Susannah leaned against the railing and watched the usual crowd milling around the water: Elephant, kudu, buffalo, impala, and the amusing little pigs, the warthogs. In the distance rose the perpetual thunderheads enshrouding the falls, colored brilliant pink in the late afternoon. If she listened, she could just make out their roar.

“They don’t have that lime drink, but I found some lemonade, well sort of lemonade.”

Susannah accepted the drink. “Honey, anything wet and cold is fine.”

Val leaned next to her.

She touched his arm. “Still sensitive?”

“A little, but this,” he gestured toward the amazing vista stretching below them, “This, and you, make it all worth it. And the pension from the Service doesn’t hurt.”

“I’m sorry you had to retire. I know you loved the work.”

“Susannah, it could have happened anytime, on any case. It’s part of the job. There’s always a risk.”

“Yes, but if we hadn’t gone out that night―”

“Susannah, stop. We’ve discussed this, and I’ll repeat your words. ‘God can make all things work for the good of those who love Him.’ Quote and end quote. My injury is a blessing in disguise. I can still use my hand, perhaps not with the proficiency the Agency needs, but I’m still useful.”

“I know.”

“Then what?”

“Did any of it make a bit of difference? All our suffering and that of the victims, and there still isn’t a resolution. The human traffic ring has hit a speed bump, but not shut down. Evil is still as rampant as before. It isn’t right.” She shook her head. “Don’t say it. I know, nothing will be totally fair in this world, but after so much, I had hoped there would be just a bit of a difference.”

“Remember your favorite story about the starfish, Susannah. That’s about all we get to hope for, except think of this. For every child you save ―”

“
We
save.”

“Okay,
we
save, the lives they affect should also be counted, parents, siblings, friends, their future children. And so, the ramifications are far more significant. And even beyond that, who knows which child will be the next Einstein, Martin Luther King, Dr. Salk, or Gandhi, and have the potential to change millions of lives.”

“True.”

“And even if they don’t change the world, their lives matter.”

“But, how do you cope, knowing your efforts only touch the surface? Didn’t you ever feel discouraged?”

“Of course I did. But, each life saved, each criminal taken off the streets, was my small contribution, and add that with those of other agents and officers all over the world, we do make a difference.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right.”

“But what?”

“I still don’t understand how anyone can hurt children.”

“We will never understand that, Susannah. Criminals don’t think like us. Let’s chalk it up to divine intervention that we stopped some of them, and just be thankful.”

“I can’t dismiss it that easily. Something is still very wrong. I feel it, but can’t figure out what it is.”

“Won’t that old Indian appear when it’s time to act?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let it go until then and let’s just enjoy our honeymoon.”

Susannah stared out toward the water. “I guess.”

Val put his good arm around her and pulled her close. “You’ll know when it is time to act, as always. Brian Falun, and the rest of those thugs, will make a mistake and get caught. They’ve been lucky so far, but their luck won’t last.”

He leaned down and kissed her.

Susannah smiled. “I could get used to this, you know.”

“That’s the plan, and I hereby order you to be happy. No more worry, no more guilt, or regrets. We are right where we should be, where we’re meant to be.”

Susannah nodded, leaned against him, and looked back out toward the river.

Acapella male voices drifted across the veranda.

“Oh, that’s courtesy of the lodge.” Val said. “In celebration of our wedding.”

It was a celebration, the happy-ever-after-ending. She had someone to share her life ― all of it, the good as well as the bad, someone who would always be there.

A raspy voice whispered in her ear. “He won’t always be with you. You
will
be alone.”

Susannah envisioned the flames and the old Indian. “Wrong. I will never be alone, for
God
is always with me.”

A hiss. The sound of desperate clawing. A beastly scream. A powerful force pushed the demon back into the slimy hole from which it had crawled and set a seal upon the door.

The old Indian appeared. “It won’t remain sealed forever, but for a time. But even then, do not worry or fear.”

Susannah nodded. “I will trust. My faith will protect me.”

The image of the old Indian transformed into an ethereal being. “Susannah, do not be afraid. I am Raphael the archangel, angel of healing.” He reached out and touched her brow. “God will grant you the desires of your heart and the last half of your life will be far better than the first.” Then he vanished.

Val pulled her close and kissed her cheek. The sun sank lower, the sky ignited into red laced with gold. Shadows swallowed the grounds beneath the deck.

The love song switched to
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
― for the tourists, and somewhere in the darkness, just beyond the compound, a lion roared.

Coming soon: Lions Among the Lambs