Both executioners stood up and examined their job, top to bottom, unfazed at Sister’s pain and terror. The one named Big John pointed to the right wrist bound unsatisfactorily. His partner grunted and bent down and loosened the knot and retied it more tightly.
Satisfied, Big John walked over to the tool box and brought out a large hammer and handful of thick, long nails.
The two women’s cries were now in the realm of storms and waves crashing. Cricket fought to free herself not with human agency but with primal force.
The big plumber knelt next to the crossbeam and dropped the nails onto the cement patio except one, placing it in Sister’s palm.
“Oh, God, you test me!” Sister cried out, and kept screaming.
The hammer came up and the man struck the nail with enough force that it drove the nail through Sister’s palm and into the wood. The executioner had his hammer raised for the next strike and paused. The other man looked for a weapon. The door at the juncture where the church and rectory joined flew open. Later, Cricket would remember a great wind rushing through the courtyard.
Charging through the door was Larry the Scientist but without the cane and glasses. The executioner stood and threw his hammer, but not before Larry shot him in the head and chest. The other man charged locomotive-style, and Larry squeezed off more shots.
Cricket freed her right hand and pulled the gun. She could barely feel it.
Whether dead or not, the executioner collided with Larry, and the Brazilian came out screaming, shooting wildly at Larry as he struggled beneath the brute, who was no longer moving.
The roar of the P-51 overhead made the Brazilian look up and she cursed and shot at the sky.
Her left hand free, Cricket brought the gun on the Brazilian with both hands and fired three rapid shots. The Brazilian was firing at Cricket and missing, yelling for her troops. The front of her toga was soon soaked in blood. She fell a few feet from Sister. Cricket ran to the Brazilian and heard shouts from inside the house and heavy shooting on the street—the cavalry!
Larry had shoved the killer off and stayed on his back, holding his chest.
The Brazilian was dying, staring at the sky, mouthing some last bit of nonsense about the world. When she saw Cricket her eyes widened in hatred, and Cricket returned a stare of triumph, firing into the Brazilian until empty.
Cricket went to Sister, whose chest heaved with painful breaths, and eyed the bloody nail. She grabbed hold of it and with one foot on the cross fiercely pulled. Sister yelled, her back arched, and the nail moved slowly at first and then rapidly and Sister was free of that horror.
Cricket didn’t have to struggle with the ropes. Fritz and Tony came running in, followed by soldiers. Fritz went right to work on freeing Sister Marie, and a medic stanched the flow of blood from her palm with a fistful of gauze. Cricket bent down and kissed Sister on the cheek.
She walked over to Grace, lay down next to her, pulled her close into her arms, and cried. These tears came from another place, a place not of pain and hatred but of pure love. Fritz brought over two young soldiers and they gently placed Grace on a stretcher. Before they covered her, Cricket smoothed back her hair and told the soldiers to treat Grace with the greatest of care.
Stretchers were brought out for Larry and Sister Marie. At Sister’s side, Cricket cried freely looking down at her friend’s bloody hand being cleaned and bandaged. As they moved her onto the stretcher, she groaned terribly. The medic gave Sister a painkiller and a muscle relaxant and said they were taking her inside the rectory to set her shoulder.
“I’m going to survive, Cricket. Pray for Grace and the others who didn’t survive the night.”
The two women looked at each other, and Cricket understood how love gives you courage. Sister was delivering bushels of it as they carried her inside.
On the other side of the cross, the medics were working on Larry. Cricket walked over with the help of her husband, passing the Brazilian, who was stone-cold dead, looking up to the heavens, bitterness her last expression. Your five-thousand-year series has been cancelled. Never got past the first season.
Larry was having trouble breathing, likely broken ribs from the brute who had crashed into him. A scalp wound from his fall was still bleeding, wetting the back of his head and neck. The Brazilian’s bullets had missed.
“Who are you?” Cricket asked.
“Lawrence Davies. I’m terribly sorry—couldn’t get to you sooner. This entire place … heavily guarded … I got you the gun and knife.”
“It was you!”
“Yeah, hid one for myself, too. Word came, not even an hour ago, that the Guard was on its way…. Anton took off. A lot of them did.”
“Oh, God, Fritz, we can’t let him escape. He killed Grace! He’s a monster.”
A loud cry went up and everyone looked to the rectory. Cricket wanted to take all of Sister Marie’s pain over the last twenty-four hours and make it her own. Please, God, she’s suffered enough.
“Most of her pain is gone,” Lawrence said. “Her shoulder’s back in place.”
“Sister’s gonna be fine,” Fritz said to Cricket, holding her close. “You, too, Lawrence. They’ll be taking both of you to a temporary hospital, shortly. Don’t worry, I’ll let the colonel know about Anton. We’re going after that monster.” Fritz took a deep breath, yet his voice still shook. “I loved Grace like everyone else who met her.”
Lawrence attempted to sit up. “Let the colonel know …” Lawrence paused, grimacing, drawing another breath … “my family’s been held hostage since the EMP attack. Please … help them.”
Fritz took down the information, including the details on Anton from both Cricket and Lawrence, and passed it on to a young lieutenant.
“Thank you, Lawrence, for saving us.” Cricket offered her hand, and he briefly held it in both of his. “I’m praying for your family’s safety.”
Cricket and Fritz stepped back as the team carried Lawrence into the rectory. She turned to Fritz. “Your dad?”
He just wrapped his arms around her and shook mightily.
“Does your mom know?”
“Not yet.”
“I’ll go with you.” Her voice cracked with fatigue, and she rushed her words. “There’s these two beautiful young girls you haven’t met. Lee Ann and Lily. Your mom’s really close to them. We left them at the little hospital on Lincoln. They’re beautiful. Strong.” Dizzy, she reached for Fritz, and he pulled her into his arms. “Fritz, I’m so sorry about your father. Your poor mother—”
“Let’s visit the girls first. But no more talking. You’re losing your voice. Time for some rest.”
They checked on Sister. She was spent but relieved. Cricket promised that they’d see her later that afternoon and Sister said weakly, “What a blessing, to have such wonderful friends.” Sister Marie turned her head to check on Lawrence, whose cuts and abrasions were being cleaned. Cricket sensed Sister’s mind was moving in another direction and knelt alongside the stretcher. Fritz kept a firm hand on his wife, who wobbled before reaching the floor.
Sister Marie studied Cricket with loving eyes. “You did what had to be done. Your hatred?”
Cricket’s voice was a whisper. “Gone.”
“Cricket, this is one of your best moments … ever.”
53
The Art of the Extreme
Cricket looked about Saint Andrew’s and found it untouched. Unspoiled, the saint looked out from his niche, a guardian of true peace and love.
The mob had been dispersed. Those who resisted were immediately arrested and taken to the high school for processing. Fritz and Cricket were walking down the center aisle when Cricket slipped into a pew.
“You’re right,” Fritz said.
Husband and wife sat in the quiet church and prayed.
A few minutes had passed when an officer came up the aisle and continued to the side entrance and held the door open. Tony and another soldier walked in with the cross and leaned it lengthwise ag
ainst the wall behind the altar. The ladders and scaffolding used to take it down were outside on the west side of the church, and carpenters were being contacted to raise the cross back into place. Tony came down the aisle, all business, and would have kept walking, but Cricket reached for him and got out of the pew and kissed him.
“Thank you for all that you did today.”
“Didn’t do enough for Grace.” Tony turned away and faced the altar. “The monsters slipped in and stole her on my watch.” He sniffled, saying, “She was a beautiful kid. I’ll never forget her.” He lowered his head, thinking. When he looked up he wore a silly grin and plenty of tears. “My favorite nun’s gonna be okay.”
Cricket hugged him tightly.
“You’ll be returning home later?” Fritz rose and put his arm around his wife.
“Sure will.” Tony folded his arms, keeping his emotions in check. “Pretty fine having a home to return to.”
“You’re family.” Fritz leaned into the aisle and the two men hugged.
“Tony, you’ve done your very best every minute you’ve been with us,” Cricket said hoarsely. “I love you.”
A carpenter walked out of the sacristy, and he signaled Tony with a wave. The best janitor ever made his way to the altar.
Cricket and her husband had started to leave when she asked:
“Who was flying the P-51?”
“Another officer from Wright-Patterson. Andrea Manning. She’s flown the P-40 in air shows. Lots of time. That’s why I didn’t make it back sooner.”
Cricket nodded. “She made a great low pass. Made the Brazilian lose her cool right before she lost her life.”
Fritz and Cricket stopped by the clinic. Both Lee Ann and Lily were helping the other children and adults confined to cots. They were thrilled to see Cricket and really liked Fritz, who promised a cookout and a game of catch at his parents’ home. One of the nurses thanked the girls in front of the newlyweds.
“They did a wonderful job for us. And this little one is all better, but she does need to take her antibiotics.”
The nurse pulled Cricket aside.
“Right after you brought the girls here yesterday this man came in. A big guy dressed in black, shaved head. He was just staring, scanning the patients. Lee Ann was on the table, a couple doctors working on her, and he zeroed in on that little girl. I went up to him, asked him who he was looking for, and he looked through me and said nothing, like I was just a fly buzzing past.
“Well, something told me to keep this guy in my sights. Sure enough, he drilled that girl with sicko eyes until Lee Ann spotted him and started crying. I immediately went to her and she pointed but the man was gone. She said the man in black had hurt her mommy and daddy.”
On the way to the Holadays’, the girls at her side, Cricket didn’t have a chance to tell Fritz about the nurse sighting Anton.
The girls spotted a lush growth of zinnias in a yard where the lawn hadn’t been mowed all summer. A couple on the porch just laughed and said to pick a few. The girls slid a flower into each other’s hair, right above the ear.
Cricket grew more thoughtful approaching the Holadays’.
Fritz took Cricket’s face in his hands. “You’ve been through hell. Get a bite to eat, hang out with the girls, and then get some sleep. The Frisbee’s on the porch, and there’s Diesel.”
The dog circled the girls and they called out to him using lovely names made up on the spot.
Fritz said, “I need to be alone with my mom for a bit.”
The three of them fanned out and threw the Frisbee. Diesel made a dash for the blue flying saucer and leapt shortly after Cricket threw it, catching it mid-air.
Cricket wanted to give more of herself in the game but Anton had her full attention. She was no longer exhausted and wouldn’t sleep until Anton was caught. She was pleased to see Tony coming up the street. He looked exhausted.
“They have Sister Marie and Lawrence right next to each other. Those two are really piecing a lot together.”
Cricket raised her hands for a time-out. “Okay, girls, time for a tug of war with Diesel.”
The girls both hung onto the Frisbee, and Diesel started pulling them around the yard, while Cricket learned more about Anton. Fritz walked onto the front porch with his arm around his mom. Judy waved and Cricket sadly waved back. Mrs. Holaday called out to the girls, saying she had dinner and chocolate cake for dessert.
Cricket and Tony waited for Fritz to join them.
“We’re in serious danger, especially the girls,” Cricket said. “Lee Ann saw Anton at her house the night her parents were butchered.”
Tony said, “I just learned from Lawrence that the guy is perv extreme. Into torture and random killings and not letting anyone off the hook. He’s been settling old scores in the art and drug world and enjoys the random stuff like what happened at Lee Ann and Lily’s home. Like the Brazilian, his butchery started long before the EMP attack.”
“We’re all on his hit list,” Fritz said.
“Exactly.” Tony looked to the house.
“Some are higher up on the list,” Cricket added. “I’m worried. We only saw a pair of soldiers at the hospital.”
“Right before I left, a dozen Guardsmen arrived. They know about this animal. Larry, I mean Lawrence, gave them the rundown.”
“What’s his involvement, his background?” Fritz said. “I mean, I don’t entirely trust him.”
“And the cane business and glasses,” Cricket said.
“Are you ready for this?” Tony eyed them both. “The Guard has some computers up and running, and before I left they accessed some corporate records. Lawrence Davies worked as an electrical engineer for the Fulton Corporation. Lives on the east side, a wife and two boys.”
“He told me his kids are being held on a farm,” Cricket said, “close to the freeway.”
“Right. That farm’s going to be raided in the next hour. Lawrence said the Brazilian had kidnapped a couple of doctors and a dentist and was using it as a private clinic for herself and a select few. Cricket, that first family who were slaughtered, the day we met a month ago, the doctor was being recruited by the Brazilian’s thugs, too; his family would have been hostages. That doctor fought back. The pieces are starting to make sense.”
“Blackmail,” Fritz said.
“Yeah, but with Lawrence Davies she didn’t get all of him,” Tony said.
“What?” Cricket and Fritz passed looks of confusion.
“Anton was with the raiding party that day at the Davies home. Lawrence was upstairs in his study when at least a dozen heavily armed goons rushed his house. Both boys and mom were downstairs, and all he had was a .22 pistol and no way of contacting anyone. They brought the family onto the front lawn and threatened to execute them if he didn’t join the Brazilian team—yeah, that’s what they called it, has that Olympics-for-sociopaths ring to it.
“He was ready to come downstairs when he spotted his dad’s cane in the corner. His father had made it himself and used it for years. So Lawrence gets the cane and put on these bifocals of his dad’s as well—kept them in his drawer, sentimental reasons. So, he comes downstairs looking beat-up, walking with a cane even though he’s fit as a fiddle, says he had a bad accident riding his bike a few months earlier. Then he finds out they’re taking his family to this farmhouse for insurance. His insurance is building hand-held EMP weapons, not at all practical, just a ruse to help keep his family safe.”
“And a crippled guy can’t cause any real trouble or get very far either,” Cricket said.
“A surprise up his sleeve that saved my wife and Sister Marie,” Fritz said.
Tony looked at the house. “We’re all in danger until this evil clown is dead.”
“Lawrence and Lee Ann are at the top of his list,” Cricket added, eyeing Fritz. “Anton not only killed Grace, more than likely, your dad as well.”
Fritz swallowed with some difficulty. “I told my mom he was killed quickly in a gunfight, protec
ting Grace, which is mostly true.” Fritz let a few seconds click by. “Dad was really torn up. Let’s get this bastard.”
54
Monster
Cricket knew that the girls were the best comfort for Mrs. Holaday. When Lily and Lee Ann asked about her husband’s whereabouts, she said he had an important job in getting the town back on track and needed to do some traveling.
“Our dad traveled a lot, too,” Lily said, and Lee Ann started to cry. Cricket knelt alongside the girl.
“I know you’re sad, but you have to know that your parents are very happy that you found us and Diesel.”
“I know,” she said, wiping her face. “We only had cats, never a dog. I love cats, too. Mom said that dogs were too much trouble. Especially since we took so many trips during the year. Mom said dogs don’t do very well without their family but cats just need a little bit of attention.”
Lily gave her sister a look like she had been talking too much.
Lee Ann added, “But I think they’d like Diesel; even change their minds if they met Mr. Diesel.” She looked at her sister, checking if she was going too far. Lily didn’t look pleased but Lee Ann spoke up anyway:
“Can a monster find you by sniffing the air?”
“Oh, Lee Ann,” Mrs. Holaday moaned. “You poor thing.”
Cricket asked, “Sweetie, why do you even think such a thing?”
“Because the monster came into my room and I was hiding under my bed. We both were.”
Lily looked down, afraid to look into any of their eyes.
“The monster came into the room sniffing the air. He said the night was short and that he’d be back for us. He said he was leaving us for his friends. He said we were perfect.” She asked Cricket, “Can you protect us?”
“Absolutely.” Cricket said.
Sitting on the porch steps after several hours of tossing in bed barely improved Cricket’s sleep deficit. She and Fritz held hands and watched the night arrive. Twilight was accompanied by heavy cloud cover, holding in most of the day’s warmth. Rain for sure by morning.
Pulse of the Goddess: American Blackout Book One Page 28
