The Queen of Cool (46 page)

Amanda ran around Alisha, avoided the second
man, and ran to Lo. The first step in the neutralization process
was completed. Lo tried to press the button. As bullet fragments
slammed throughout her body, her spleen shattered. Her liver
punctured.

“
Enter.” Lo’s voice came
out as breath. A fragment punched a hole in her lung.

Amanda’s fingers pressed Lo’s into the Enter
key. A bullet fragment nicked Lo’s heart. An armed man pulled
Amanda away from Lo. Amanda grabbed the handgun from Lo’s waistband
and pointed it at the man. The man hit Amanda and she fired at him.
The bullet nicked the man’s ear.

“
Don’t fuck with me,”
Amanda said. “I’m my high school marksman champion.”

The man stepped back. There was a whistle
and the armed men stood down. Amanda rushed to Lo. Unable to speak,
Lo’s eyes flicked to the screen.

“
Do you wish to complete
neutralization?” the screen read.

Amanda pressed Enter. Lo blinked twice.

And let go.

All pain, all sound, all sensation stopped.
All of the colors faded to white fog and she floated away from the
room. She felt a hand in hers.

Q

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A half hour later

Thursday evening—9:15 p.m.

Days: 196

“
Oh my God,” Lisa screamed
when she saw Amanda run out of the building next to a stretcher.
“Is that… Is that… Is that… Nooooooo!”

Mutt grabbed
Lisa and held her back as she began to convulse with sobs. Amanda
ran with the paramedics to the ambulance. The empty, dark space
that had been the Swift Packing Plant was lit up by spotlights from
a dozen police cruisers. Three fire engines rumbled along the edges
of the scene. Just fifteen minutes ago, SUV after sedan after SUV
filled with unidentified civil servants in dark suits had arrived
at the chaotic scene. Yazmin, Mrs. Williams and Larry were blocked
from entering the lot and watched from the
23
^rd
Avenue entrance. Mutt and Lisa were
being interviewed by a solicitous Fort Worth Police Officer.
Nearby, the people from the government were yelling at the Fort
Worth Police Chief. A series of SUVs with white block FBI lettering
on the doors were arriving and windbreaker-clad agents were joining
the chaos.

“
I got her heart going
again. Twice, before…” Amanda yelled over the noise to the
paramedic inside the ambulance. She used a blood stained hand to
gesture to the paramedics with her. “They used the paddles but…
she’s lost a lot blood and…”

“
We’ll take it from here.”
The paramedic’s sincerity and confidence made Amanda nod. “You did
a good job.”

“
I…” Amanda
said.

“
How many more inside?” the
paramedic inside the ambulance asked.

“
This is the last one
breathing,” the paramedic next to Amanda yelled.

The man nudged Amanda out of the way. He and
another man put Lo’s body into the ambulance. As Amanda stood in
the doorway feeling confused, Alisha rushed past her and stepped up
into the back of the ambulance.

“
Come on!” Alisha held a
hand out to Amanda.

Amanda let
Alisha pull her into the ambulance. A tall, dark-haired man in a
dark suit nodded to Amanda and closed the ambulance doors. They
drove past Lisa and Mutt and down the driveway past Larry, Yazmin,
and Mrs. Williams. On 23
^rd
Avenue, the
ambulance picked up a police cruiser and they began their run to
John Peter Smith Hospital.

“
Get in!” Larry yelled to
Yazmin and Mrs. Williams.

“
What about Matthew and
Lisa?” Yazmin asked.

“
A cruiser will take them
when they’re done with them,” Larry said.

“
And Mindy Sue?” Yazmin
asked. “We’re going to leave her after she saved
everyone?”

“
There’s nothing we can do
about that now,” Larry said. “But we can go and be with Lo, Manny,
and Sy.”

“
We should go,” Mrs.
Williams said.

Yazmin cast a worried look in Mutt’s
direction and got in the car.

Q

Lo looked to her right to see who was
holding her hand. She smiled and held out her arms to Jaden. They
hugged like old friends. As they held each other, the white fog
began to drift. When they separated, they were standing on a sandy
path in the middle of an open green meadow. The meandering path
went slightly up hill toward a tall granite mountain in the
distance.

“
I guess we go that way,”
Jaden pointed up the path. “My lady?”

He held out his hand and Lo took it. They
walked at a slow, easy pace in companionable silence. The path
turned downhill and they moved through a shady valley. Jaden
stopped at a stream for a drink of water. As if many had stopped
here before, a tin cup was anchored with a nail on a nearby tree.
He filled the cup and gave it to Lo.

“
Thank you,” She took a
drink and gave it back to him.

“
I never thought I’d spend
the afterlife with you,” Jaden said.

“
Yes,” Lo said. “I’m
surprised too. I was so angry with you.”

“
And now?”

“
I feel very peaceful,” Lo
smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“
I used to hate you,” he
said. “Now, I feel… peaceful is a good word for it.”

Lo’s face lit up in a smile.

“
Do you think Don’s waiting
for us?” She looked down the path.

“
I’m sure of it,” Jaden
smiled.

“
Let’s go find Don,” Lo
said.

“
Hey!” a man’s voice called
from up ahead on the path.

Jaden and Lo looked toward the sound. At
that moment, Lo felt herself ripped away from the idyllic scene.
Her entire body wrenched with pain.

“
Don’t you dare leave me,
Mom,” Amanda’s voice yelled.

A man yelled, “Clear!”

In a blink, she was standing next to Jaden
looking up the path. Sy appeared.

“
Simon Monquist!” Lo
said.

Jaden and Sy hugged. Sy hugged Lo and took a
cup of water from Jaden.

“
I’m so glad to see you,”
Sy said. “I started to feel discouraged, like I’d never get there,
then I heard your voices.”

“
Don’s waiting for us up
there somewhere,” Lo said. “I bet Renee’s with him.”

Sy gave her a big toothy grin.

“
What are we waiting for?”
Jaden asked.

Sy put his arm around Jaden and they started
up the path. Lo took one last drink of the sweet water, hung the
cup for the next traveler, and ran to catch up.

Q

Friday, early morning—1:15 a.m.

Days: 197

“
They say she’s stable,”
Amanda gave Alisha a cup of coffee and gave the other to Dr. Evelyn
Evans. They were looking through a glass window into the small room
where Lo’s body lay. The women watched the heart rate monitors
where two blue lines bounced – one for Lo and one for the
baby.

“
She’s stable,” Dr. Evans
smiled.

“
And the surgery?” Alisha
took a drink and then gave Amanda the coffee cup for her to
finish.

“
I can’t tell you more than
you already know,” Dr. Evans said.

“
Can a person live without
a spleen?” Amanda asked.

“
Of course,” Dr. Evans
said. “Before you ask again, her heart can heal. It is possible. We
have to see if it will. She’s been through a lot in the last six
months. Any normal person’s heart would not withstand it
all.”

“
My mom is fierce,” Alisha
nodded. “And strong.”

“
Yes, she is, dear,” Dr.
Evans said.

An old woman dressed in hospital scrubs
shuffled behind them. She looked down the hallway before slipping
into Lo’s room.

“
Who’s that?” Alisha asked
at the same time as Amanda asked, “What’s she doing?”

“
That’s your father’s
great-grandmother,” Dr. Evans said. “My grandmother, Granny Olga.
She’s checking on the souls. She’ll be right out.”

“
My father?” Amanda
sighed.

“
You mean Henry Downs?”
Alisha sneered at the name.

“
Your soul’s father,” Dr.
Evans said. “Don’t let all of these supposed facts keep you from
what you know is true in your heart. Donald Downs was your father
and your mother lies in that room. Your brother is waiting to be
born.”

“
And Sue Ellen?” Tears
dropped from Amanda’s eyes. “What’s she?”

“
In the custody of the FBI,
from what I hear,” Dr. Evans said.

“
How…?” Alisha started to
ask.

“
I have a cousin with the
government,” Dr. Evans smiled. “You saw him at the Packing Plant,
didn’t you? He closed the ambulance doors.”

They watched the old woman touch Lo’s
forehead and her belly. Her mouth moved as if she was talking.
After a few minutes, she began her slow shuffle toward the door.
Dr. Evans went to open it for her.

“
Well?” Dr. Evans
asked.

“
You were right,” Granny
Olga said. “The baby’s soul has arrived. That’s very good
news.”

“
And my mom?” Amanda’s
voice came out in teary words.

Granny O took her hands and looked deep into
Amanda’s eyes.

“
You must be Amanda,”
Granny O smiled and turned to Alisha. “And you Alisha. You are very
beautiful, both of you.”

“
What about our mom?”
Alisha asked.

“
She is in between worlds
now,” Granny O said. “You and the baby are the only ties that hold
her here. It’s now up to her to decide whether she wants to come
back.”

“
But she’ll be with Dad,”
Amanda sobbed and Alisha hugged her. “She’ll never come
back.”

“
We shall see,” Granny O
turned to look through the glass. “We shall see.”

Q

Lo, Sy, and Jaden walked through cool
valleys and warm plains. The day remained warm and inviting. The
gorgeous day and the friendly walk eased their tension and worked
to erase any friction between them. They laughed easily and talked
about nothing. Lo couldn’t remember having had a nicer day with
better company.

Coming over a small rise, they found a tall,
forbidding-looking fence had appeared to the left of their path. As
they walked, the barrier transformed into a typical suburban
privacy fence. In places, the fence was no more than a post and
rail. After commenting when it appeared, the three travelers gave
it no other attention or thought. Like the clear streams, moist
valleys, rolling hills, tall trees, green grass and warm sun, the
fence was a part of this beautiful place.

They had just walked over a slight hill when
Lo saw two people standing behind the split-rail fence on the
horizon.

“
Do you see them?” Lo
looked at Jaden and Sy.

“
It’s them!” Sy
yelled.

Hooting with joy, Sy took off running. Lo
and Jaden followed behind. The three ran for what felt like miles
along the fence as the path zigzagged down the incline. Nearing the
split-rail fence, Jaden slowed.

“
Don’t give up,” Lo
said.

“
He wants you. He loves
you.”

“
He loves us both. He’ll
want to see us both.”

Lo held out her hand and he took it. They
ran the rest of the way hand in hand. When they reached the fence,
Sy was already wrapped around Renee. He was crying and hooting and
swinging her around. Renee giggled with joy.

And Don.

She slowed at the fence. He gave her a
quizzical look. She glanced at Jaden and he nodded. Jaden grabbed
him in a hug. Weeping, Jaden begged Don for his forgiveness. The
men spoke back and forth in a tight embrace. When Jaden let go, he
beamed a bright smile at Lo. Closing his eyes, he held his arms out
and faded from their sight.

She stepped over the fence line to Don and
was swept away. He kissed her forever and held her for a hundred
years after that. He held on through her rage and tears and
laughter. Her every sense was flooded with his love. The world spun
with dizzying joy.

When she stepped back, they were standing in
her favorite meadow in the middle of the southern Colorado
Mountains.

“
Shall we?” he
asked.

Don gestured toward their saddled horses
standing nearby. Lo nodded. He helped her onto her horse and
mounted his stallion.

“
I’ll follow you,” she
said.

“
Not a chance,” he laughed.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight!”

She leaned over and kissed him. They held
each other for a moment before Don smiled at her.

“
Go on,” Don
said.

She took off at a gallop with Don following
close behind.

Q

Friday, early morning—1:15 a.m.

Days: 197

“
How is he?” Alisha asked,
as she sat down next to Mindy Sue in the waiting room.

“
Okay,” Mindy Sue sighed.
“He has more surgery tomorrow, but they think he’s going to be
okay.”

“
That’s really good news,”
Alisha said.

Mindy Sue’s eyes scanned Alisha’s face
before she nodded. Not a particularly tall woman, Mindy Sue had the
strong, trustworthy look of a no-nonsense Texas mom. Alisha smiled
at her.