by Alex Grecian
“Already figured that.” Goodman took a step backward.
“Leave your gun where it is, brother.”
Goodman sighed and turned around. “I shoulda kept a better eye on you, Heinrich.”
13
When Skottie pulled the door open, there was nothing on the other side. No light, no sound, a complete vacuum.
“I have matches here somewhere,” Travis said.
A voice drifted out of the darkness. “Is that the hunter there? Did you bring your negress or have you come alone?”
“Rudolph Bormann,” Travis said.
“Yes, Dr. Roan, I’m right here.”
“Mr. Bormann, I’m placing you under arrest,” Skottie said.
“Mom!”
“Maddy?” Skottie took a step forward over the threshold, her Glock held down at her side, trying to locate where Maddy’s voice had come from. She had no idea how big the room ahead of her was or where Rudy was located.
“Please stay where you are,” Rudy said. “My saw has stopped working, along with the lights, but I am holding a scalpel against your child’s throat, Mrs. Foster.”
“Maddy, has he hurt you?”
“Mom, I’m scared. I can’t move.”
“Let her go, Bormann.”
“Why would I do that?”
The scritch of a match being dragged across a rough surface, the smell of sulfur, and Skottie could suddenly see Travis next to her in a small circle of flickering light, a furry shadow beside him. Ahead of her the room was visible for a short distance, fading into black at the edges. She could see vague shapes at the fringe of visibility, Rudy leaning on a cane, standing over a still form on a metal table. They were roughly four feet away from her. She took a step forward and raised her gun.
“Mrs. Foster, if you knew what I’ve done in the past, you would believe me when I tell you I will spill this girl’s blood. There’s a drain in my floor here that’s very thirsty.”
Skottie stopped where she was. Travis exclaimed as the match burned down to his fingertips and he dropped it. They were plunged back into darkness. But now Skottie knew where her target was.
“Put your gun away,” Rudy said. He had moved, his voice coming from a point two feet away from where he had been a moment earlier. “Do it now or she dies.”
Skottie holstered her Glock. “Maddy, stay calm, okay? I’m right here.”
“He hasn’t done anything to me, Mom. He just talks and talks.”
“I think you must have used my son’s device,” Rudy said. “The machine that kills electricity.”
“It shut everything down,” Travis said. “Your church is in chaos.”
“I’m surprised, I’ll admit that,” Rudy said. “Very surprised. If everything else has stopped working, why am I still standing?”
“We have your weapons, your people, we have your device. You will not be able to sell it to Joseph Odek now.”
“The machine was never intended for Odek. That device was always for me. My grand exit.”
“I do not understand.”
“I’m very old, Dr. Roan. And I’m tired. But the lightning won’t let me rest. I know it’s looking for me again. So what choice did I have, really? I need to kill the lightning if I ever want to escape. I can’t control the weather, but I can shut off whatever’s left inside me. I can stop it here and force it to find someone else.”
“I still fail to understand,” Travis said. “You thought an EMP generator would stop the electrical field within your body?”
“Imagine my disappointment right now.”
“Enough of this,” Skottie said. “Bormann, get down on the ground and put your hands behind your back.”
“I don’t think so, Mrs. Foster. Say good-bye to—”
“Bear,” Maddy said. “Bear, ataku!”
There was a sudden sound of clattering metal, objects falling to the floor. Rudy began to scream.
Skottie ran forward, her hands out in front of her, until she reached the table. She ran her fingers gently along the edge until she encountered warm fabric. She could feel her daughter breathing, feel a heartbeat under her thin T-shirt.
“Mom?”
“Maddy?”
“There’s straps, Mom. On my wrists and ankles. They have buckles.”
Skottie found Maddy’s right arm, her wrist, a thick leather cuff.
“Bear,” Travis said. “Haltu.”
Rudy continued to howl in pain, but Skottie felt Bear’s soft mane brush against her as she worked at the buckle on Maddy’s wrist. The dog’s tongue lapped at Maddy’s hand and made the cuff slick with drool.
“Hi, boy,” Maddy said. Her voice sounded chipper, but then she drew in a series of short panting breaths and Skottie could tell the adrenaline rush of being rescued had worn off. Maddy was close to hyperventilating.
“I have her feet,” Travis said. “Maddy, my name is Travis. I am a friend of your mother’s.”
“Please, just get me out of here.”
“Stay calm, baby,” Skottie said. “You’re almost free.”
“Maddy,” Travis said, “did you know that a flock of starlings is called a murmuration?”
There was a long silence before Maddy spoke. “Is that true?”
“Yes. I only recently found it out. Thank you for watching Bear for me, Maddy.”
“You’re … He’s a good dog.”
“He does not usually take commands from strangers. He must like you very much.”
Maddy’s breathing slowed a bit, and Skottie put her hand on her daughter’s chest for a few seconds to help reassure her, then attacked the straps again. They were ancient and stiff. She finished with one buckle and moved on to Maddy’s left wrist. She could hear Travis at the other end of the table. They worked together, freeing Maddy as Rudy’s moans began to subside. At last, Maddy came loose and Skottie scooped her up, carried her away in the direction of the door. Up the stairs, into the big room with its tiny windows, just light enough that she could see the way ahead. Below her, she could hear the Nazi groan, then the scuffle of shoes on the concrete floor. With the metal door standing open, Rudy’s subbasement room had lost its soundproof quality, and they could hear Travis talking to the Nazi.
“I hope you are able to walk, but I will carry you if necessary.”
“Where’s my cane? Your dog bit me. He’ll be put down, you know.”
“Mom! They can’t!”
“Hush, baby. Nobody’s gonna hurt Bear.”
“Skottie,” Travis said, his voice floating up at her from the pitch black nothingness of the dungeon. “May I borrow your handcuffs?”
Skottie set Maddy down and took her hand, gripped it too hard, and Maddy yelped.
“Stay right here,” Skottie said. “Don’t move.”
She patted her waistline, found the cuffs clipped to her belt, and went back down the stairs, sliding her free hand along the wall until she felt solid ground beneath her feet. Another match was lit and Travis stood in a pool of light beside her. Behind him, Rudolph Goodman was moving up behind him, his cane raised above his head. Skottie dropped the cuffs, pulled her Glock, and fired past Travis in one fluid motion. The match went out, the cane dropped to the floor, and Rudy grunted.
“Travis? Are you okay?”
“Yes, and thank you. I do hope you have not killed him.”
“Does it really matter?”
“Yes. It matters to a great many people.”
14
Heinrich Goodman sat on a bunk across from Rachel Bloom. His right arm hung useless at his side, and the machine gun in his left hand was aimed at the floor. Kurt Goodman leaned against the chest of drawers and cast longing glances at the gun he had left on the floor.
“You knew what was going on,” Heinrich said. “You had to.”
“Not nearly, I didn’t,” Goodman said. “No, sir.”
“What did you think?”
“I guess I tried not to think too much.”
“You got paid very well fo
r a sheriff.”
“I figured you were fleecing people dumb enough to join your church. That was okay with me. And maybe you made a mistake and somebody got hurt every once in a while. But they chose to be here, so they got the short end of the stick they grabbed.” He pointed to Rachel, who had begun to stir, moaning in her sleep and tugging at the handcuffs. “She didn’t choose this.”
Heinrich groaned and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his good hand, inadvertently shaking the machine gun at the ceiling.
“You’re bleedin’ pretty good there,” Goodman said.
“I was never going to harm her,” Heinrich said. He squinted and aimed his gun at Goodman. “Her husband’s a lawyer with the firm we use.”
“Too expensive to chain him to the bed?”
“This business with the old woman and the state trooper stirred things up. I needed him to do things, but he was asking a lot of questions.”
“I got some questions, too.”
“You’re my brother,” Heinrich said. “Whatever our disagreements, we’re family.” He used the Kalashnikov to point at the suitcase in the corner. “I have enough there you could come with me. We could start again somewhere.”
“Another Purity First?” Goodman put his hands in his jacket pockets, felt the smooth bulk of his stun gun.
“That was Dad’s thing. He never saw the potential in it, but I did.”
“Funneling drugs and people and guns through here?”
“Never drugs.”
“How much money you got?”
“Plenty for both of us,” Heinrich said.
“A little R & R on a beach somewheres?”
“Pretty ladies and fine food. No more tornadoes or blizzards. I’ve got it all figured out.”
Goodman nodded and looked out the window. He took out his pouch of tobacco and pinched a fresh wad into his cheek. On top of the dresser, the cartoon cat winked at him from the side of the little pink purse.
“Sounds like a pretty sweet deal,” Goodman said. “You got so much money, why didn’t you get outta here yesterday or last week? Why’d you wait?”
“I still had a shipment to send out, more cash coming in.”
“Couldn’t leave it behind, huh?”
“You were distracting the hunter. I thought I had time. I thought the holiday would slow everyone else down. I only needed till the end of the week.”
“You shouldn’t’ve took the girl.”
“I see that now.”
“And you shouldn’t have brung my deputy into this.”
“Christian’s my nephew.”
“He was my deputy.”
“This is pointless. Do you have a car? We should go.”
“Thing is, my car’s not gonna work. Nothing’s getting out of here except maybe that big juice-killer truck you got. Don’t think we’ll get too far in that.”
Rachel moaned again and her eyes fluttered open. Goodman pushed away from the chest of drawers and looked down at her. He smiled and hoped he didn’t look menacing.
“Ma’am, we’re gonna get you out of here in just a minute, okay?”
She shook her head. The skin around her mouth looked sore where he’d pulled the tape off. She worked her jaw without speaking and rolled her shoulders.
“Leave her,” Heinrich said. “We don’t have much time.”
“Where’s my duffel of undies?”
“What?”
“You wanted me with you, so I guess you must’ve already got me a change of socks or something.”
“I don’t—”
“How’m I gonna go along if I don’t got socks?”
He wheeled and pulled out the stun gun, reaching out toward his brother, already pressing the button with his thumb. But Heinrich was ready for him, raising the machine gun. He fired off a burst that splintered the floor and the box springs under Rachel. Goodman tried to dodge and smacked his head against the railing of the top bunk. As he fell back he brought his knee up against Heinrich’s jaw and heard a loud pop. He ducked and lurched forward again, falling on top of his brother. The stun gun was pressed between them, and Goodman’s thumb was trapped holding down the button so that the voltage was divided between them. They juddered and shook, the thin mattress bouncing under them.
Goodman accidentally swallowed his tobacco and gagged. He rolled sideways and dropped the stun gun, jammed his arms outward, unable to work his fingers, and knocked the Kalashnikov away from his brother.
He fell off the edge of the bed, still tingling, and pushed himself up off the floor, blinking hard and shaking his head back and forth, trying to bring the room into focus. He crawled around in a circle, scrabbling at the carpet until he found the warm stock of the Kalashnikov, and he grabbed it. He got to his knees and swung around as Heinrich sat up.
“Kurt—”
Goodman pulled the trigger and Heinrich’s body danced down the edge of the bed and toppled to the floor. Goodman took his finger off the trigger and counted to ten again, watching Heinrich’s body, then he dropped the gun and stood up.
As the echo of gunfire faded, he realized Rachel Bloom was screaming, and he turned toward her, held his hands out.
“Give me a second and we’ll get you out of here,” he said.
He went to Heinrich and bent over him, checked each of his pockets until he found a key ring. The smallest key on the ring was stamped with the brand name of the handcuff manufacturer. He held it out for Rachel to see and knelt by the bed.
“You know Doc Roan,” he said. “I’m his good buddy. We been looking for you.”
15
The stairs were easier going up than they had been coming down, except that they had the extra weight of Rudy Goodman supported between them, his cuffed hands swinging limp, blood trickling down his arms, dripping on their shoes. Maddy climbed the steps on her own, clinging to Bear. They emerged into the church nave and stood blinking for a moment at the sudden daylight, and at the damage that had been done to the old stone structure. The back wall had crumbled further and rifts had opened in the ceiling. Water trickled from above and splashed onto the remains of the intricate woodwork and the stained glass.
Quincy was sitting in a front pew, and he jumped up when they entered.
“Your dad’s doing okay for now, amigo,” he said, “but I think we better get out of here. This whole building’s gonna fall apart.”
“Let it,” Skottie said.
16
They came out of the church into pouring rain. Lightning lit up the sky. Travis carried his father in his arms. Quincy had hoisted Rudy over his shoulder in a fireman carry, and Skottie carried Maddy, aware she was squeezing her too tight but not caring.
A handful of the men and women of Purity First were wandering in and out of the sheds carrying bags and boxes, their brown shirts hanging limp and wet. Sheriff Goodman came out of a house beside the church with his arm around a woman’s shoulders, supporting her weight. Travis had to look hard to recognize Rachel Bloom.
“She’ll be okay,” Goodman said as they drew even with the others. “Probably not goin’ to any church socials for a while.”
“Good work, Sheriff.”
Goodman flashed him something he must have thought was a smile and tipped his hat. Rainwater poured off the brim.
Quincy let go of Rudy’s body and let him drop in the mud.
“Damn,” Goodman said.
“I am sorry,” Travis said. “It was not my intention to kill your father.”
“It was me,” Skottie said, raising her voice to be heard over the rain. “It’s not his fault. I did it.”
Goodman shook his head. “Hell of a day I’m having.”
Travis took a step toward the sheriff, but stopped when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His skin tingled with static electricity. He looked at Skottie, and her eyes were wide. She felt it, too. She turned back toward the shelter of the stone wall, shielding Maddy with her body, and at the same instant lightning slashed down, striking the
flagpole. Every shadow in the compound disappeared, swallowed by the bright blaze of electricity. Travis jumped, and he heard Maddy scream. The flagpole sizzled with heat and the flags burst into flames, the wolf’s head suddenly ablaze. A finger of lightning split off, flashed through the air, and touched Rudy Goodman. Rudy twitched and writhed in the mud as the lightning faded to an afterimage and a clap of thunder rocked the compound.
There was a moment of complete stillness, even the rain seemed to stop, frozen in midair, then life and motion returned again. The flags atop the pole crackled and sparked in defiance of the pelting rain, turning black at the edges.
“Quincy,” Travis said, “are you all right?”
“I’m fine, amigo,” he said. He let out a long sigh. “Just scared the hell out of me.”
He dropped to one knee and held two fingers against Rudy’s throat. He leaned down and listened, then looked back up at them, wide-eyed.
“You’re not gonna believe this,” Quincy said.
Part Four
* * *
THANKSGIVING
Chapter Twelve
1
There was no turkey dinner for any of them that day.
Four agents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation arrived before nine o’clock that morning after having received a tip from the Comanche County sheriff that girls were being run out of Purity First. They brought the local police and Lieutenant Johnson of the Highway Patrol with them.
The presence of Sheriff Goodman and Deputy Griffith helped Skottie and Travis persuade the other authorities that they weren’t vigilantes. The sheriff told a story that was at least partially true: He had been given reason to believe that a young girl was being held against her will in the church and was in imminent danger. He had deputized Officer Foster and Dr. Roan, and they had entered the compound without a warrant but with just cause.
KBI agents went through the churchyard and the outbuildings and seized the weapons cache. They found evidence that people had been chained to beds in many of the buildings. Rachel Bloom was led away to an ambulance and, along with Ransom Roan and Rudy Goodman, was taken to the Burden County Clinic.
