“Three,” I whispered. Staring this way and that, I stopped and inspected the room.
“Where do we go from here?” asked Roger.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Look for a door.”
At that moment, a sliding panel to the side opened. A custodian walked through into the room. We dove behind the stack of cat carriers. The man walked straight through and left, never looking our way.
“Four,” I said.
Stepping through the door opened by the custodian, we entered a space where the dogs were housed in sectioned cages. There were four aisles of cinderblock cells, all with chain-link front. Some were vacant, while others contained either a dog or a litter of puppies. Surprisingly, they didn’t bark at our intrusion. Across the room stood another door with capital letters written on it—VETERINARIAN’S OFFICE.
Roger whispered, “It’s like a puppy grocery store. Puppies, puppies, and more puppies for sale. Just walk through and make your selection.”
I pointed. “Look there.” Rose huddled, face to the corner, in one of those cages.
We rushed to her and pulled on the bars of her cell. The only thing we achieved was to make a clattering noise.
She crawled over to the locked gate and put her hands on Jimmy’s. “I’m okay. They haven’t harmed me. They didn’t want me, anyway. They wanted Flower and kidnapped me by mistake.”
Jimmy gave the locked gate a thorough inspection, pulling on the hinges and the bars. “Mistake or not, I gotta get you out of there. I can’t stand the thought of what old Demon-Sheriff might do.”
“They keep talking about the power of the talisman. If this thing can do what they say it can, you’ve gotta get to it first.” Rose’s eyes pleaded with Jimmy. “Getting the talisman is more important than getting me out of here.”
“Rose, I can’t leave you here. I can’t.” Jimmy put his head against the bars and blubbered the words through tears.
I didn’t think Jimmy could cry. If anyone had asked me, I’d have told them the big guy was born without tear ducts. Seeing him so broken up was disturbing.
“Jimmy,” Rose said, “They haven’t said or done anything to make me think I’m in danger. Walter is my guard, and he’s been taking good care of me. He promised me he wouldn’t let this get out of hand.”
“Out of hand?” Roger exclaimed. “Rose, they have you locked in a cage made for dogs. What else are they going to do?”
She smiled softly. “They want the talisman and if they get it… it’s over for all of us.” She put her hand on Jimmy’s hand. “Even though I’m not the one they were sent to kidnap, they think I’m a huge bargaining chip in their favor. Jimmy, I’m safe. Go get the Talisman.”
Across the room, the Vet’s door creaked open and both the sheriff and a ten-foot-tall stranger walked in the far door. The entire room erupted in howls and barks.
We dodged into an empty cell and hid behind one of the cinderblock walls dividing the cages.
Rose blew Jimmy a kiss before she returned to the back of her cage.
“Shut up, you mongrels,” the sheriff ordered. The dogs growled and barked all the louder. Following the tall stranger, one of the Sheriff’s deputies also entered. Turning his attention to his deputy, he yelled over the colossal noise, “Take her to the jail and book her.” The sheriff cringed and covered his ears. “I want a 24/7 guard outside her cell. Got that?”
“Yes, sir. I got it,” replied the deputy.
“Those damned hippies are up to something, and I can’t trust Calypso to deliver all the intel we need. If they come for this one, they won’t survive. Issue a shoot to kill order for any intruders at the County Jail.” He paused and grimaced. “I’ll do it myself. Those flesh bags working for me are soft and won’t understand. They will need some convincing, but I can handle it.”
The tall stranger said, “Let no harm befall this one. The master has plans for her. After we trade her for the talisman. He will come for her. With the talisman in our possession, they will not be able to resist our charms.”
A familiar scent wafted through the building. It smelled like lilac and musk—and something else, too—cherry blossoms and almonds. Of all the omens I’d seen, this odor made me feel the most dread.
Jimmy whispered, “We’ve got to move now before they take her to the jail.” He stepped toward the open corridor. I grabbed his arm and stumbled as he pulled me.
“Stop,” I muttered quietly.
“What’s wrong now? I’m gonna bash in some demon head and save Rose.” Jimmy whispered back.
“They, I mean the demons are not alone. There are fallen angels here. You might bash in the sheriff’s head but not before you’re cursed.”
Roger’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “How do you know?” He stopped, stared over at me, and said, “Don’t answer that. But, man, what do you mean fallen angels? Like more than one?”
I nodded. “Yes. Well, maybe. We can’t take the chance of even attempting a rescue—not here." I mouthed the words as much as said them.
“Arland, you were gung-ho to lead us into this hornet’s nest and now you're chickening out on me.” Jimmy’s voice grew louder at the same time I heard the door at the far end of the room snap shut.
We stepped out from the caged alcove. Rose wasn’t in her cell. They had taken her with them.
“All this wasn’t my idea,” I said. “It came to me.”
Roger sighed in relief. “That explains how perfect it went off… at least so far. I was beginning to think you were some kind of freaking genius.”
I nodded, and explained, “I got the rescue plan in a dream. I don’t know why it came to me if we can’t rescue her.”
“Maybe,” Roger said, “there was some other reason for your dream. Maybe it wasn’t a good dream, but a bad one sent by a demon…and Rose was the bait to get us here.”
“I don’t know, but there’s one thing for sure. We better get our butts outta here,” I said.
Jimmy fumed and opened his mouth to object when the door opposite us opened and snapped shut again. It was one of the sheriff’s deputies. Suddenly, he dropped his keyring. The keys made a jingle and then a clatter as they landed on the floor.
“Now,” I whispered. “We gotta go now.” We hurried back between the sliding doors and into the kennel. I pulled Jimmy behind me. It was clear he wanted to stay and save Rose, but his efforts would have been one more cause for regret.
Jimmy wouldn’t look at me. He turned to Roger and said, “Okay, Numbnuts, what do we do now?”
“Don’t ask me. I didn’t have the dream about this; Arland did.”
“We wait,” I said. “We can’t leave yet. We have to wait for—”
Suddenly from inside the covered cage came a wild fluttering of wings.
“That’s it. Move now,” I said.
“You don’t know what the hell you’re doing,” Jimmy complained. “Wait…move…wait…sit…beg.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re treating us like dogs.”
I grabbed Jimmy’s shirt and pulled him into the filing room. We scanned across the rows of filing cabinets. All was quiet. Putting a finger to my lips as a reminder for them not to blurt out some crap and give us away; we gingerly stepped across to the next door. I pulled on the handle. It was locked. Behind this locked door was the lobby and the exit. It was all that lay between us and safety.
“Now what, Arland?” Jimmy scoffed. “We’re trapped.”
I ignored his remark and pulled them down to crouch behind a row of filing cabinets. “Roger, what time is it?” I asked.
“It’s 5:00. Why? Is it important?” he answered.
I nodded. “Tell me when it’s exactly 5:03.”
The three measly minutes felt like an eternity. At 5:03 the door opened, and we hunkered down lower when a deputy came in. Dropping a clipboard in a tray marked High Priority, he turned to leave. As he left, I reached out and caught the door behind him, preventing it from completely closing. Hunkering behind the door, we waited.
“Let’s go,” Jimmy demanded.
“Not yet,” I replied.
Voices came from the lobby. “Officer Watkins, take your break now while I go make some copies.”
Another voice answered, “Okay, did you make fresh coffee?”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too gross. Make some more if you want to,” the voice replied.
Then a moment of silence before the static of a radio tuner searching for a station grated on my ears. Abruptly, Dream a Little Dream of Me played and Mama Cass Elliot’s crooning vocals rang out.
Roger announced, “It’s 5:03.”
“Now, move through the door,” I instructed.
There in the lobby stood Walter, the officer we met at the playa pond. He held a ceramic coffee mug in his hand. Upon seeing us, he stepped back and dropped it. When it hit the ground, it sounded like glass breaking.
“Everything okay in there, Walter?” a voice called out from somewhere beyond the receptionist’s desk.
Walter didn’t hesitate, he answered, “Yes, everything’s fine. I made a mess. I’ll clean it up.” He smiled at us and nodded at the exit door.
Finally, we were outside where fuzzy speakers crackled a staticy version of Mama Cass Elliot’s serenaded. Wasting no time, we ran to the van.
Flower asked, “What happened? Where’s Rose?”
Jimmy sneered. “That was a terrific waste of time. We made it all the way to where Rose was imprisoned and Arland made us leave without her.” He huffed, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his seat. “That’s bullshit, Arland. You chickened out on me.”
“I don’t get it. Why did I get the entire plan to rescue her in a dream when there was no possible way we could have gotten her out? Flower, am I doing something wrong?”
“I don’t know, Arland. All we can do now is go on to Blue Eye and get the talisman.” Flower answered. “What happened in there? Why didn’t your plan work?”
“I got a vibe that there were fallen angels present,” I answered,
“Oh,” she replied.
“I’m not sure that I couldn’t bust some angel head just as easily as I could bust up those demons,” Jimmy boasted.
“I tried to warn you. These visions you get are not all they’re cracked up to be.” Mr. Dark growled. “If you ask me—”
“I didn’t ask you. Shut up.” I replied.
“Arland, you shut up. You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Jimmy bellowed.
Right when I stepped out to take charge like Flower said I should—everything fell apart. I sunk down in my seat and wished I could be invisible for once.
Chapter Nineteen
Unexpected Journey
Stoney pulled away and headed back the way we came. I turned to look once more at the Animal Shelter. There in the middle of the road was the sheriff. He just stood there watching us leave, his eyes red as hot embers. An icy shiver ran up the back of my neck and the hairs on my arms felt like they were standing on end. To my surprise, he didn’t try to pursue us—he just stood there. I turned to face the front. I’d no reason to freak out the others when we weren’t in immediate danger. So, I kept it to myself.
Finally, heading to Blue Eye, Stoney wasted no time. He opened the van up and cruised at seventy miles per hour along the highway. We passed the cutoff to the commune and passed the pond where Dave had his accident. Out of the blue, Roger yelled. “See the side road going off into that stand of trees?”
Stoney replied. “Yeah, so what? It’s not the way to Blue Eye.”
“Quick. Take a left down that road and turn the car around in those trees.”
“Why?” Stoney questioned.
“Just do it,” Roger demanded.
Stoney pulled onto the dirt road. “Now what?”
“Maybe nothing, but if I’m right, then—” A roar of engines announced a dozen police cars in a caravan, led by a KDPS Ford 150 police truck. They came rumbling at high speed toward the commune. “Yep,” Roger continued, “there they are, just as I expected. I suspect they’re all headed to the commune to search for the talisman.” He shook his head and shuddered. “I figured the sheriff called on his law enforcement buddies for help, and I, for one, didn’t want to pass them head-on. Who knows, the sheriff-monster might have issued warrants for our arrests too. If he gets his hands on us, we’re burnt toast. I’m sure, he thinks he doesn’t need our help anymore since he knows where the talisman is. Too bad for him it’s all a trick. His demons in disguise will be searching a long time to find nothing.”
Jimmy exclaimed, “With all the roosters out of the henhouse, now is the perfect time to be busting down doors at the jail and save Rose. Turn this buggy around and head to the jail. I’m not convinced that we can’t manage her rescue. Why should we waste time heading off to get some old book? We’re leaving her unprotected, and it’s wrong.”
Flower replied, “We’ve gone over this already. Our best hope of getting her back alive is to find The Book of Uriel, retrieve the talisman, and use it against the fallen angels.”
“I’m not concerned with angels right now. What I want is to get my Rosie back and then pummel the sheriff-monster into the ground,” Jimmy gritted his teeth and growled the words, “Venus will get hers later. I’ll see to that.”
“Let’s make it plain, Venus was benevolent. We’re not dealing with Venus anymore, she has become Ishtar The Destroyer,” Flower stated. “So, let’s say we run in and attack the county jail. It’s the most protected stronghold in the city, and we don’t have one of Arland’s visions to tell us how to get in and out. Who knows how many other officers are possessed by Ishtar’s demons. How many more of her horde are waiting in the shadows to trap us if we were to try something? No. The odds are stacked against us. Our only hope is to use The Book of Uriel to get the talisman and then confront the Herald of Death herself.”
“You heard the sheriff-demon say he ordered his men to shoot to kill,” I said. “Brawn isn’t what we need. It’s time to use stealth, not strength.”
“Stealth didn’t rescue Rose,” Jimmy complained.
After all the cars passed our hiding place, Stoney pulled back onto the highway and headed toward the Tri-state marker.
Jimmy leaned back, his anger simmering in his words, “I would rather beat Briggs’ head open and drag his demon out of hiding. He owes me and I’m going to collect in spades.”
Roger asked, “What are you talking about? Why would any demon owe you?”
“This one tried to turn me into one of his puppet-creatures—him and Calypso. If I ever see that she-demon again, I’ll snap her in half at the hips.”
Without a doubt, Jimmy the bully was back and his anger had a focus—Sheriff Briggs.
Roger crowed, “I’d like to see that. She’ll have a lisp, talking her kind of sign language with a broken hip bone.” He raised his arms and acted like a Hoochie chick, limping while shimmying his hips.
Stoney called back to us, “It’s only an hour and a half, maybe a little longer, but we’ll be there soon.
I asked the question roiling over in my brain ever since Rose’s abduction, “Seriously, how do you defeat something immortal. We’re talking about conquering angels and demons, and unless I’m completely mistaken, they live forever. Can they be defeated?”
Stoney turned onto the highway, I saw the marker for Route 66. “Yes,” he answered, “fallen angels and demons can be hurt. They can be bound. They can even be cast back into Hell with their archangel. But you’re correct, they cannot be killed. At least not by any mortal weapon, and—”
Roger interrupted, “Why do I get the impression, you didn’t come along just to drive?”
Stoney patted the satchel at his side and looked over at Flower. He said, “You’re right. He either has excellent intuition or he has the gift.”
Roger flinched like something touched him—something unexpected. “The thing about having one of these spiritual gifts is you don’t have it all the time. It comes and goes, and when it’s
gone,” he glanced at me, “You are as clueless as anyone else.” Roger put his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands. “The freaking gift of wisdom would have come in handy all the time.”
“Why do you think you had me pull over?” Stoney asked.
“Because…everyone knew we’d tipped off the sheriff last night, and he was bound to be heading to the commune this morning,” Roger replied.
“Funny that didn’t occur to me, and I doubt it did for any of us.” Stony gazed at Roger in his mirror. “The word of wisdom will come to you when you need it. If indeed you have the gift. Flower says she can’t tell if you have a marking. Only an odd birthmark, and it’s not usually the kind of mark the gifted carry. As for why I’m here other than to drive, let’s say I have a talent for languages, and I’m pretty handy in a crisis.”
“Stoney used to teach Latin at a monastery school,” Flower said.
Roger perked up. “You used to be a monk?”
“No, I was a teacher. I taught the monks Latin.”
“So why did you leave to join the commune?” Roger asked. “Weren’t you happy there?”
“You’ve seen the commune. It’s like a little piece of heaven on Earth,” Stoney gave a dreamy sigh. “Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?”
Flower added, “Arland, you said the talisman has a Latin inscription on it, and the markings say something about angels—right?”
Both Arland and Roger nodded.
“Stoney is here to translate, just in case—you understand,” she said.
Roger nodded again. I doubted he understood any better than I did. If Stoney was with us to help identify the talisman, then Flower must think it would be close by this book of angels Phoenix talked about. Why she trusted anything he said was beyond me. Being a fallen angel, Phoenix was not on our side. Who knew where his loyalties might lie? I, sure as hell, couldn’t guess.
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