Rook: Let's Avoid the Apocalypse, People

by Carolyn McCray

  The demon that was once Kadie slid by, leaving a trail of green-streaked dirt.

  “Looks like they found themselves some dessert.”

  * * *

  Angela allowed Brian to guide her to his car. She wanted to protest. She wanted to scream. She wanted to know how any of this could happen to her, yet she simply put one foot in front of the other. It was enough for now just to keep herself upright.

  Brian pulled his keys from his pocket. “I am going to be staying with you until we can arrange something more permanent.”

  Using every ounce of her strength, Angela shook her head. “I will be fine.”

  The detective raised an eyebrow, though. “Look, I didn’t report your little ‘episode’ back there, but I will, if it takes you getting the care you need.”

  When she didn’t fight him—How could she?—Brian opened the passenger side door. He rubbed her arm, obviously trying to reassure her. “I’m sure once you get some food in you and get some rest, this won’t feel so bad.”

  She might be numb and despondent, but that didn’t make her naïve. Angela looked at Brian.

  “Okay,” he conceded. “But at least you’ll be well rested and well fed.” His tone lowered to a near whisper. “And you won’t be alone. Through any of this.”

  How she wanted to say she appreciated that fact. That she appreciated him. The truth was, she just couldn’t. Brian deserved someone so much more than she could ever be. He deserved his equal—not some broken, cursed woman who carried around God- only-knew-what in her belly.

  “Detective Hoffman?” a man asked, as he approached from the other side of the car.

  Brian eyed the guy’s crisp, dark suit. They looked like FBI to Angela but she was no expert. A second man followed closely behind. They both flashed badges. “I am Special Agent Moore, and this is Special Agent Conn.”

  “Okay…” Brian answered.

  “We are here to relieve you of Ms.—”

  Angela curled her arms around her body as the second man reached out for her. Brian stepped between her and the man. What was happening?

  “I don’t know who sent you, but no one is taking Angela—”

  Angela screamed as Agent Moore pulled out a weapon. Brian went for his gun, but the Taser leads hit him the chest. The gun clanged to the ground, useless, as his body flopped on the ground.

  “Run,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Whether it was his words, or some survival instinct buried deep within her, Angela’s feet moved as she ran toward the police station. The second man grabbed her by the hair, abruptly ending her sprint. She clawed and punched and elbowed—all of the self-defense moves that Brian had taught her, but none fazed the man. He lifted her off the ground, covering her mouth with his broad hand.

  Angela bit down hard, but did not even get a grunt from her kidnapper.

  She could see people coming out of the station. Surely they could get to them in time, but a van squealed to a stop. As soon as the door slid open, the man tossed her inside. Angela hit her head hard on the bare steel floor. She tried to rush the door, but it slammed shut in her face. Desperately, she searched for the handle, but there was none.

  As the van careened away from the station, Angela fought the dizziness and groped to her feet, clutching at the grating covering the back window. Brian too staggered up, gun in hand.

  “No!” she screamed. He needed to stay down. He needed to stay safe. He shouldn’t risk anything more for her.

  But Brian raised his weapon and got two shots off before he took a bullet to the chest. Angela saw the blood splatter across his shirt, and the look of shock and pain as he crumpled to the ground.

  The van made a sharp right turn as Angela watched Brian bleed to death.

  CHAPTER 4

  Rook leaned his head against the leather airplane seat. He closed his eyes and tucked the thick goose down blanket under his chin. Perhaps later he they would offer warm towels. Ah, how he loved first class. Once he awakened from his nap, he would have to compliment Beauty on her “arranging” skills. From finding a cannibal tribe in the middle of a civil war to booking the best seats on the plane, Beauty should win the “Arranger of the Year” award. That is, if the Cabal gave out such things.

  The only thing to taint the plane ride was Chad resting fitfully between he and Beauty, disturbing what could have been the most perfect flight in history. The student had already nearly knocked over Rook’s champagne.

  “Are you sure he doesn’t need another pill?” Beauty whispered.

  Rook didn’t bother opening his eyes. “If anybody needs more Valium, Beauty, it is you.”

  Ever since her nearly betrothed witch doctor got sucked into Chad’s chest, his Arranger had been a little on edge.

  He could hear Beauty take in a breath in retort, when her phone buzzed. Quickly, she snatched it from her purse. The one bad thing about being in first class was that the flight attendants were all over their passengers.

  “I am sorry, madam, but you can’t use that device during the flight,” the woman said with a French accent.

  Rook cracked an eye open and watched Beauty make quite a scene of “turning off” the phone. “I am so, so sorry. I must have forgotten to turn it off. Won’t happen again.”

  The flight attendant smiled at Beauty. “Very good, then.” She moved off to the young couple to their left who wanted a few more blankets. Rook could probably guess what they wanted to do underneath them. He also guessed that their amorous feelings would be extinguished if they knew a Hellgate sat not two seats over. Talk about a buzzkill.

  Beauty leaned over Chad and whispered, “It’s Savage on the line.”

  Rook rolled his pillow up and propped his head against the bulkhead. “You heard the lady.”

  “He says it’s urgent.”

  Rook yawned. “Oh, when isn’t it? I mean, seriously, when?”

  Beauty leaned in even closer. “First off, he says he can hear everything you just said, and that he will meet us in Lisbon if you don’t take his call. Right now.”

  Emotional blackmail. That was his uncle’s strong suit.

  He accepted the phone from Beauty. Savage was as brusque and direct as usual.

  “Burgundy alert. You are heading home.”

  “But you don’t understand,” Rook tried to interject, but his uncle simply talked over him.

  The flight attendant turned on her heel. “I must insist that you turn your phone over to me.”

  While Savage was still prattling away, Rook handed off the phone. “My pleasure.”

  Rook got his pillow all nice and positioned again as he shut his eyes.

  “Well?” Beauty asked. “Are we still taking Chad to Lisbon?”

  “Change of plans,” Rook said, wishing he’d had that second glass of champagne. “We’re going to the States.”

  “The States?” Beauty asked, rousing a few of the neighboring passengers.

  “Yep. Something bigger has come up.”

  Beauty leaned over Chad and smacked him on the shoulder. “Bigger than…” she said once Rook opened his eyes. “Jack-in-the-box?”

  Rook simply shrugged as the plane banked sharply left.

  “What’s going on?” Beauty asked.

  He readjusted his blanket. His knees were getting a little chilly. “Like I said—We are heading home.”

  The other passengers began to whisper amongst themselves as the jet accelerated in the opposite direction of Lisbon. Chad moaned as their seats vibrated from the thrust.

  “But—” Beauty sputtered. “There’s no way.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “But we don’t have enough fuel to cross the Atlantic. And to try to fuel a passenger flight in midair? That’s just …”

  Rook shrugged again, wondering if he should ask for another glass of champagne before they ran out. “Hey, all of that is Savage’s problem.”

  Beauty, though, still didn’t seem able to accept their new fate. “What could be this i
mportant to divert a plane in midair?”

  Poor Beauty. She always asked questions that she really didn’t want to know the answers to.

  “Just the warm-up act for the Apocalypse. No biggie.”

  Relishing the look on Beauty’s face, Rook decided that he didn’t want another glass of champagne. With such a long flight, a nap was in order, and the drink would only give him fuzzy mouth. Not the feeling he wanted just before the Second Coming.

  As he settled against the bulkhead, he heard Beauty shake out some pills. Rook was pretty sure they weren’t just for Chad.

  * * *

  Angela felt heavy and light at the same time. As though her burdens were lifted, but her arms were still bound. She tried to raise her hand, but something stopped her. This wasn’t an allegorical problem. She was physically strapped down to a hospital bed.

  The memories of the abduction and Brian’s face as he tilted forward, clutching his blood-splattered shirt, hit at once.

  “You’re sure we can’t use any of this equipment?” a man said.

  Angela craned her neck, trying to look behind her. She found two men dressed in suits speaking with a much shorter and thinner man in a white lab coat. There was an entire panel of instruments in front of them.

  Was this a hospital of some sort?

  “As I told you over the phone, Mr. Carson,” the small man said in a heavy Eastern European accent, “there is a peculiar energy field around her.” Angela risked another glance over the bed as he pointed to an ultrasound machine. “We can’t use any of the typical electronic devices to confirm or deny that this is a normal pregnancy.”

  They were talking about her, Angela realized. What exactly would an abnormal pregnancy look like?

  “Doctor, the suits upstairs want to know, ‘yes,’ or ‘no.’ Not ‘maybe.’”

  The doctor sighed as he cleaned his glasses. “The fact alone that we cannot get any clear readings from the instruments greatly increases the chance that this is not a normal gestation. Which is why I have repeatedly recommended that we move forward with my plan.”

  “And if she got knocked up the usual way?”

  Angela lay back down and feigned sleep as the doctor led the men out of the room.

  “Then we have lost nothing. But if she is the one, then …”

  The door closed before she could hear the rest.

  Then? Then what, exactly?

  * * *

  Beauty cursed her advanced fashion sense as she nearly tripped on her stilettos while helping Chad up the gangway. Other irate passengers pushed past them, rushing toward customs, cursing in a motley mix of different languages. All angered that they were somehow in America.

  Fine. Let them rush. They only rushed so that they could stand in the never- moving customs line.

  As they stumbled out of the gangway, an airline attendant held up a sign. “Smith Family.”

  Beauty angled them in that direction.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Rook sneered. “What are we? Daddy bear, Hot Momma bear, and drunk cousin Chad?”

  “Shush,” Beauty urged as they approached the attendant. “The Smiths. That would be us,” Beauty announced to the attendant.

  The lean man led them through a side door. “I have been instructed to assist you past customs.”

  Thank goodness. How exactly would they have declared a Hellgate? But if Savage could arrange midair refueling, he could easily get them past Miami customs. Quickly, they passed through several sets of doors until they entered another section of the airport.

  “Your private jet is fueled and ready for takeoff at Gate Number 87-B.”

  “Thank you,” Beauty said, since she knew Rook was not going to.

  Even though the gate was only four rows down, they guided Chad to the first available seat. Hellgates were a helluva heavy species. And in stilettos? My word. Beauty’s nose cringed at the terminal’s smell—a combination of bananas and body odor. Not the fragrance that she was accustomed to. In Miami, give her the beach, or give her nothing.

  As Beauty made sure Chad did not fall out of his seat, Rook looked down the terminal away from their gate.

  “You get Chad to the safe house in LA,” Rook said as he headed off. “I’ll meet you there.”

  Beauty grabbed his sleeve. “Oh, no you don’t! You can’t leave me alone! With him? No way.”

  Chad groaned and lolled his head over, murmuring something about fire and pain.

  Rook wagged his finger at Beauty and spoke in an upbeat tone. “Remember, only nice, happy thoughts.”

  Equally chipper, Beauty replied, “Rook, my darling, my love, the father of my imaginary children, where are you going to go, exactly?”

  “Oh, Snuggums, I’m talented, but even I want a little backup when we face the End of Days.”

  Beauty sat down next to Chad, leaning his head against her shoulder, soothing his hair, trying to quiet him before Miami became nothing more than a hellish sinkhole.

  “Rook, sweetie, you know that I can send for anyone you need. It’s my job.”

  Rook leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Sorry, but I’ve got to do this on my own.”

  Beauty squinted. Rook was up to something. Which was the norm, but usually he filled her in. Well, at least with the ZIP code where he was headed. Rook urged Chad up and helped her carry him toward their gate.

  “But you need to me to organize transportation and—”

  A flight attendant from their gate took Chad from Rook.

  “I’ll be fine,” Rook reassured her. “Now, shoo.”

  Reluctantly, Beauty headed down the gangway after Chad. Rook gave a royal wave making her grin. Feeling slightly better about a cross-country trip with an active Hellgate, Beauty kicked off one pump, then the other. Her stockinged feet greeted the thin, worn carpet of the gangway like it was silk and butter.

  She turned to say a final good-bye to Rook, but found him standing in the middle of the terminal staring out the window. Normally, Rook was a “man of action.” The guy who yelled carpe diem as their boat capsized. To see him so quiet and forlorn made Beauty realize that maybe escorting the walking Hellgate was the easier assignment.

  * * *

  Angela breathed in, and then out, trying to mimic sleep as the doctor hovered over her.

  “I have an EEG reading, Angela. I know that you are awake,” he said with that thick, slow, and menacing Eastern European accent.

  She opened her eyes to find his thin, sharp nose only inches from hers.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Kidnapped,” she answered tersely.

  “Good, good,” he said, nodding vigorously. “You know your surroundings. How else are you feeling?”

  With Brian’s shocked look still in her mind’s eye, she answered, “Homicidal.”

  “Your sense of humor is intact, I see.” The doctor patted her arm as if he had the best bedside manner. “But I was asking more along the lines of abdominal cramping or headaches.”

  “What am I doing here?” she demanded.

  The doctor stroked her cheek. “Angela, I think you already know that, no?”

  Angela jerked her face away.

  “Now, now,” he said, as he leaned in even closer. “I am loath to use drugs to control your temper, but I will if I must.”

  Angela squeezed her eyes shut, forcing her face as far away from the bony doctor as she could.

  “It is going to be a very long nine months if you insist on behaving this way.” He dug his fingers in her cheek and forced her face to his. “I could make it easier on you…”

  Angela lifted her lip and bit down on the end of his finger. Salty, warm blood was her reward. The doctor backhanded her. Her cheek stung from the blow, but it was worth it. Her survival instinct seemed to have kicked in full gear. Brian would be so proud.

  If he weren’t dead, Angela reminded herself.

  The doctor sucked on his injured thumb. “Once you’ve given birth, you are mine,” he wheeze
d. “Just remember that.”

  * * *

  Rook gripped the dashboard of the beat-up pickup truck as they hit another pothole—while going forty miles an hour. His butt was lifted off the seat a good six inches, and then came crashing down. The old beater may fishtail on its bald tires at every turn, but they were making decent time.

  Still, it had been a long trip. Another four-hour plane ride, and then he had to hop into a puddle jumper to fly this deep into the Rockies. They had landed in a small clearing in a wildflower meadow. Snow still capped the mountains surrounding the reservation, as clouds built up on the horizon. A late-season storm was forecast. Rook was lucky to have flown in ahead of it.

  Rook glanced over at the older Native American driver. He seemed to take the jarring and jangling bumps as a matter of course. It was like his body had simply adapted to the conditions, and he rode the truck like a bronco.

  Not soon enough, they pulled to a stop. The old man said nothing. He just nodded up the sloping hill to the sweat lodge.

  “Thanks,” Rook said, but there was no response. Funny. He was usually the enigmatic one.

  Rook got out and tried to shut the door, but it wouldn’t close all the way. Finally he hauled back and slammed the thing closed. The old man gave a grunt of approval, and then gunned the truck. Dirt and debris flew up around Rook in a hail of pebbles.

  Sputtering, trying to get the grass blades out of his mouth, Rook conceded. “Maybe next time I’ll take Beauty up on her offer.”

  Several loincloth-clad Native Americans walked by, looking at the strange white man dressed in a long black trench coat mumbling to himself. Spitting out some sort of pine nut, Rook let them stare. If everything went as planned, he would be out of here before they could say “Kemosabe.”

  Bracing himself for the harsh welcome that was sure to come, Rook headed up the gentle slope to the split-timber sweat lodge. The building must have been constructed by hand, how their ancestors had, before the white man came and messed everything up. Rook might have appreciated the effort if he weren’t in black loafers with hay kernels in the folds of his shirt.

  Rook opened the thatched door and entered the lodge. He waited a moment until his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Rook knew that he was supposed to strip bare, dip himself in sacred water, but he just didn’t have the time… or inclination.