Flight into Darkness (Flight Trilogy, Book 2) (25 page)

“Ahhh….” the guard hesitated. “Dean?”

“Yes. Rex Dean was the one who saved my family.”

“Ah, yes. Rex Dean. I’m not sure where he was taken.”

Something in Ryan’s peripheral vision caused him to turn and look toward his son in the adjacent room. David was sitting on the edge of his bed, frantically waving, pointing, and signing. “BAD MAN! KILLER! THAT HIM! SAME MAN! SAME! SAME!” He frantically repeated the sign for “same” by bringing his hands together with extended, index fingers.

Ryan froze. His son was awake, alert—alive! But his panicked mannerisms were confusing. Ryan turned back to the guard. From where the man stood, his view of David was blocked. Ryan’s heart raced as he assimilated what his son was trying to tell him. If the guard and the lunatic were one and the same, Ryan needed to act fast.

“Anything wrong, Mr. Mitchell?” the guard said.

That
voice
…
could
it
be
?

As if the freak read Ryan’s mind, in a calm—almost hypnotic voice—the guard continued, “Don’t worry, Captain Mitchell, I think you can
trust
that Captain Dean will be taken care of. It’s all about
trust
, isn’t it, Ryan?” A smile formed in the corners of the guard’s mouth, obviously aware that his cover had been blown.

It’s
him
!

The lunatic had returned to kill them all. Ryan turned and picked up the lightweight chair to his right and spun around, ramming the four metal legs into the freak’s chest. The jolt sent the freak back against the wall, his hat flying off into the hallway.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” Keri screamed. “That’s him! Help! Somebody help!”

Ryan turned toward Keri.

She’s
awake
!

She yelled, “Ryan! He’s got a knife!”

Ryan whipped back around just in time to come face to face with the blade of a knife—at least 12 inches, possibly 18 inches long—in the albino’s right hand. The blade had no point and was of equal width from top to bottom—shiny, sharp, and scary.

“You see, my dear Keri, fear is in the mind,” Samael said, taking a step closer while looking at Keri. “Dear, you would have been better off if you had stayed at the house. I’d hoped it wouldn’t end this way.” He turned to Ryan. “And
you
cannot be trusted.” He gripped the knife firmly. “I think it’s time Mrs. Mitchell deals with her fears, but, first, I need to show the captain what happens when you don’t trust. Do you remember what I said, Captain Mitchell? You must believe before you can trust, and you obviously do not believe. So now I’m going to make you a believer.”

A man’s voice called out from the hallway, “Drop the knife or I’ll shoot!” The man yelled louder, “Drop it now or I’ll shoot!”

Samael slowly turned, still clinching the knife in his hand. The man in the hall had his gun raised, held tightly with both hands, aimed at Samael’s chest.

Samael said in a calm voice, “You can kill this body, but you can’t kill me. It looks like I’ll have to finish this in another life.” He raised his head toward the ceiling, closed his eyes, then said something strange: “En ma Fin gît mon Commencement”.

In one swift move, the albino sliced the big blade across the left side of his own neck, from back to front, cutting hard and deep through his jugular vein, arteries, trachea, and esophagus. Blood spewed, spurted, and poured from his neck as the white giant crashed to the floor.

Ryan held Keri tight as she sobbed. He removed the wires and tubes constraining her, lifted her from the bed, and carried her out of the room and into the adjacent room where Martha was slowly awakening. With the help of a nurse, David joined them. Ryan wrapped his arms around all three of them as they all cried tears of joy and relief.

“I’m never leaving you guys, ever again,” Ryan said, signing as he spoke. “I don’t care what we have to do or where we have to live, things are gonna be different.”

Martha was the last to wake, but was smiling big. She said, “Mommy, is the big, white man gone?”

“Yes, Darling, he’s gone. There’s nothing to be afraid of, anymore.”

“Well, I really wasn’t too afraid. I knew he wouldn’t hurt us. I’ll bet he’s gone back to where the white monsters live.”

“You and David were both very brave,” Keri said and signed.

Ryan turned to David. “Son, you are my hero.” David’s deafness and his ability to communicate with the invisible language of signs had ultimately altered the outcome of a life-threatening situation. If David had not alerted Ryan, Samael would have surely caught him off guard.

For the first time in Ryan’s life, he viewed his son in a different light. No longer was his son a mistake; the child that he wished he had never had; the little deaf boy who had no hope or future—but instead, David was perfect. Just as God had used David’s deafness to save the lives of their entire family, Ryan was certain God had a wonderful and fulfilling purpose for the rest of David’s life.

There
is
a
purpose
for
every
life
.

Ryan said, “I almost forgot!”

Keri said. “Forgot what?”

“Rex!”

“Who?”

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know—how could you?”

“Know what?”

“Rex is alive! He saved your life.”

Keri shook her head. “Am I still dreaming, or did I just hear you say ‘Rex is alive’?”

“You heard me right. Rex is alive.”

CHAPTER 37

The Mitchell house remained a crime scene for five days while a team of specialists conducted fingerprinting, photography, and trace evidence collection. They gathered liquids, hairs, fibers, shoe tracks, documents with handwriting that could be analyzed, and blood. The evidence was sent to the Orange County Crime Lab for forensic analysis.

Uncertain if the man had been working alone—with the exception of the corpse they’d found in the bathroom—the Orange County Sheriff’s Department provided around-the-clock protection for Ryan and his family during their two-day stay in the hospital. At 2:00 a.m. on the morning of the third day, three SUV’s with tinted windows pulled up to a side entrance of the hospital. Ryan, Keri, David, and Martha were bundled into one of the SUV’s and whisked away to a safe house where they spent the next two weeks under the protection of armed bodyguards.

Before returning home, Ryan had the house thoroughly cleaned, the damaged sheetrock repaired, removing any trace of the freak’s visit. He wanted everything to be immaculate, fresh, and clean, hoping to prevent Keri and the kids from having any unnecessary memories of that horrible night.

“Will we ever see Rex, again?” Keri asked as she stirred a big pot on the stove filled with her homemade spaghetti sauce.

“I’ve tried to find out where he is, but I can’t get the detective or the sheriff’s department to tell me anything. Due to the high profile nature of
his
accident, I’m certain they have him tucked away somewhere safe,” Ryan said.

“But we told them it was the same guy. The freak told me himself. That’s all he talked about. They should let Rex go.”

“They’re not going to simply take your word that a dead man, who can’t speak for himself, killed Emily and was suspected as being responsible for the crash. Not without proof. After all, Rex is your ex-husband and my best friend, and Emily is my ex-wife. Think about it. Rex was convicted of murdering his wife and believed to have possibly committed suicide. The families and friends of all those who died on Rex’s flight would love to find justice. Based on the evidence, that person is Rex. And now he is alive.”

Keri put the dry noodles into a pot of boiling water and set the timer for seven minutes. “There must be some way to prove it was the same guy, but you said nothing was found at Rex’s house.”

“No, I said even if they
did
find something, for the sake of satisfying the public and avoiding an expensive investigation, it was too easy to blame it on the “dead” husband. Hopefully, now, they will take a second look at the evidence from Rex’s house. I’m hoping there is something—a finger print, a fiber, a footprint, or something—that was saved from Rex’s house that can be matched to the evidence found at our house; something that will tie the freak to both places.”

“They have to find something. Rex is innocent.”

“I just don’t understand how Rex managed to remain hidden for almost a year. And why would he magically appear at our house at the perfect time? How could he have known? And where was he all that time?”

“I don’t understand why he didn’t try to contact you. After all, you were the
one
person he knew he could trust.”

“He couldn’t chance it. As long as he stayed “dead”, he was off the radar. You should have seen him that night. I almost didn’t recognize him, even after I looked him in the face.”

“Did he tell you anything?”

“He said he would explain it later, and then everything got crazy. SWAT agents burst into the den, yelling, telling us to get down on the floor. The next thing I know, I’m face down on the floor with my hands cuffed behind my back. The minute the detective told me I could leave, I turned and looked at Rex. He told me to go. All I wanted was to be with you and the kids. I ran for the ambulance.”

“Rex must have figured out that the man who killed Emily was going to strike again. The freak told me he killed Emily. He kept repeating that if I didn’t cooperate with him he would keep killing. Maybe he told Rex the same thing.”

Martha skipped into the kitchen with David close behind. “Mommy, are the ‘noo-noos’ ready?”

Keri pointed to the timer and held up two fingers. “Two minutes.”

Ryan signed to David, “You hungry?”

David gave a couple of quick nods of his fist, meaning yes. He wafted the luscious aroma of the spaghetti sauce to his nose with his hand and smiled, indicating he liked it.

Ryan pulled four plates from the cabinet and placed them on the counter, and then signed to David to get the flatware and set the table. Keri drained the cooked spaghetti into a colander in the sink. She then heaped a pile of noodles on each plate, handing them to waiting hands eager to top the noodles with sauce.

Once they were all seated at the table, Ryan said, “Let’s pray.” Keri and Martha closed their eyes and bowed their heads while David stayed focused on Ryan. Ryan signed while he prayed. “God, we thank you for everything you have done for us and given us. Continue to strengthen us and bring peace, protection, and provision to our family. Make it clear to us what we should do next. Please help our dear friend Rex to be found innocent and freed. Thank you for this meal. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.”

His words, “what we should do next” echoed into an unknown future. He had no idea what was next, where or if they would move, when they would decide, or how he would provide for his family if they did move. He did know that he would never fly again or do anything that required him to travel. For the first time in years, he was sleeping through the night, and the nightmares had not returned. He and Keri had grown inseparable in ways that reminded him of their days as teenagers. His love for her had deepened more than he’d thought possible. He cherished every second they had together.

David and Martha started eating the moment they heard “Amen”. Keri looked to Ryan as though she were peering into his soul. She smiled, reaching for his hand. Her smile warmed his heart. The touch of her hand assured him that regardless of where they landed, it didn’t matter—they would be together.

The door bell rang. Keri’s face tensed. She squeezed his hand. “Should we answer it?” she said.

“I’ll take a look,” Ryan said.

She pulled on his hand. “Are you sure?”

“It’s okay. I’ll be sure to see who it is before I open the door. The detective said they were certain the man was acting alone. I don’t think they would have taken away our protection if they thought we were in danger.” Ryan said what Keri needed to hear, even though he had his reasons to be concerned.

Before flipping on the foyer light, he glanced through the peephole in the door. “I don’t believe it!” He turned the light on and opened the door. “Rex!”

CHAPTER 38

Ryan and Rex exchanged a firm handshake and backslapping man hug. Ryan backed away and stared at Rex—clean shaven, fresh haircut, and dressed in casual clothes. “Buddy, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you,” Ryan said with a big smile. “Where have they been keeping you?”

“Dude, it’s over! I’m a free man!”

“What!” Ryan paused, unclear of what he meant by “free”. “Everything?”

“Everything! They found the evidence they needed to pin it all on the lunatic. It was the same guy, after all.”

“When did this happen? I mean—”

“A couple of hours ago. When the detective told me I was released, I talked him into letting me be the one to tell you.”

“This is amazing!”

“Dude, how are Keri and the kids?”

“Great! Come on in.” Ryan led the way into the den. “We have a lot of questions.”

Keri met Rex as he entered the den, wrapping him up in a hug. “Rex, how will I ever be able to thank you for what you did?” She backed away. “How did you know?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but all that matters now is that you and the kids are okay?”

“We’re fine,” she said.

“Thank God. That was a close one.” Rex glanced at the kids, still sitting at the table. “The kids look good,” he said. He waved and smiled.

Over the years, Rex had only seen the kids a few times. Emily had insisted he stay away from the Mitchells. He secretly visited Keri and Ryan in the hospital when Martha was born, but had only seen her twice since. On occasions, when he would see Ryan at work—in flight operations before a trip or on a layover—he would get an update on the family, which always included any recent photos.

“Rex, are you hungry?” Keri said. “Can I fix you a plate of spaghetti?”

“I’m good for now, but a glass of water would be great.”

“Come sit down,” Ryan said. “We need to hear everything.”

Rex joined them at the table. Keri got the water and returned.

Martha asked, “Mommy, who is he?”

“Honey, he helped us escape from the big, white man.” Martha seemed to be satisfied with the answer, returning to her “noo noos”.