Heckel Casey (33 page)

An hour later, Madeline's caravan was back on the road. The group made the border to California by early afternoon. It became evident to everyone that Madeline was getting more anxious to be done with, as she put it, the road trip from hell.

"Looks like we have company," Quincy reported, pointing to an ATV making its way toward the motor home.

"I think it's one of my scouts. I asked to have a report when we got to the California border and he's right on time."

Quincy stopped the rig, got out and helped Madeline down the steps. Several of her other guards approached from behind the motor home.

The ATV was spewing black smoke and had a rattle sound coming from its engine.

"Hello, Ms. Madeline. You asked to have a report," the dirty, toothless man said as he knelt down in front of her. The individual clearly had not been in the vicinity of a bath in a very long time.

"Please get up and stand downwind from me," Madeline said loudly. The men behind her all snickered.

"What news do you have of Heckel?" she asked, putting a hand in front of her nose.

"He's getting close to Sacramento," he said, wringing his hat nervously in his hands.

"Can you be a bit more exact?"

"He's in Stockton. He should be at the intersection of I-5 and I-80 in a day or two."

"Excellent," Madeline said pacing in front of the man. "Go back and keep following him," she said, turning to walk up the stairs into the motor home. "And for crying out loud, go take a bath somewhere. The next time I see you, you better be presentable, or I'll clean you myself…with fire. Go!" The scrawny man jumped onto his ATV, started the engine and raced off.

"I know a nice campground up the road a ways where we could spend the night. It's on the top of Donner's pass," Quincy reported. "It'll be cooler there and in the trees. It's a pretty area."

"Fine. Whatever. Trees sound like a welcome relief from all this boring dirt and rocky landscape. I hate Nevada. Remind me not to come back here again. Let's go," she whined, walking up the motor home's steps.

The entourage stayed two nights at the campground. Everyone was glad to rest and enjoy the mountains, especially the cooler air.

At one point, Madeline met with all her support people and Quincy. She instructed them to leave her alone on the outskirts of Sacramento. She planned to walk to the intersection of I-5 and I-80, and get there before Heckel's party arrived. Quincy sat in silence with a disapproving glare. She further explained that after her drop-off, everyone had orders to head north and join her forces in Oregon just in case she was not successful with the little side trip.

When everyone dispersed, Quincy remained with a sullen face as if he just lost his favorite puppy.

"What's wrong?" Madeline asked standing in front of him.

"I don't like the idea of leaving you alone."

"How gentlemanly," she said, stroking his cheek. "I'll be fine. Remember, I have my little blue friends in the palms of my hands with me at all times." He looked at her hands and flinched.

He took her hand and said, "I'm serious. I just think it's a…"

Madeline interrupted him with a kiss on the lips. He stood, picked her up in his arms and walked to the motor home. After several hours of lovemaking, they both fell asleep.

The next morning Madeline assured him that her power would easily end Heckel's short-lived reign.

"Let me go with you?" Quincy asked timidly as he lay stretched out on the king-size bed.

Madeline had just come out of the shower. His perfect muscled body was like a magnet and she wanted to jump on top of him.
No, I need to find Heckel and finish this annoying business
, her inner voice dictated.
There will be lots of time for jumping his bones.

"You take this motor home, head north up I-5 and wait for me. After I'm done with Mr. Heckel, I'll grab one of their miserable horses and find you."

Quincy remained silent and glowered at her. Madeline kissed him and told him to get the flophouse on wheels moving.

They left the campground by midmorning and made it to the edge of Sacramento by early afternoon. Madeline dressed in ragged clothes, put dirt on her face and carried an old tattered backpack.

After all the support vehicles left, she kissed her two dogs, told Quincy to take good care of them and that she would see him in a couple of days.

"Be careful," Quincy said, hugging Madeline. "I just don't see why you have to do this." She noticed a tear forming in the side of his eye.

"Because I'm Madeline and my power will end this insurrection. Darkness and my domination will rule. A new world will be born."

Now Quincy looked scared and she wasn't sure why. He kissed her gently on the cheek and went into the motor home. The engine roared to life and he slowly drove off.

Madeline covered her head with the hood from the long dirty raincoat and started walking west on I-80. She could feel the swirls of energy form in her palms, ready to strike. "Here I come, Heckel. Prepare to meet your worst nightmare."

Chapter 31

After a few days recuperating, Jack was able to be transported in his wagon, and we resumed our journey north. Several men wanted to go back and deal with the cult that had taken Missy, but I persuaded them to leave well enough alone.

We continued to pick up supporters along the route. A large group in Fresno and Stockton joined us. Our ranks had now gotten close to a thousand. I kept wondering if that was going to be enough. Sela assured me that, with all the guardian angels helping, we would be victorious.
Would we? Yes!
I answered myself each time I let doubt try to creep in.

After we left Stockton, I began to get fidgety and nervous. I felt like something dreadful was waiting ahead for me. Sela sensed that I was worrying.

"You all right?" she asked after we started heading north on the interstate.

"Sure, just fine."

"You seem preoccupied. Talk to me. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I just have this niggling feeling that something is…um…waiting up ahead."

"Well there is…in Oregon," she stated matter-of-factly.

"No, sooner than that."

"Maybe we need to have a small group of men ride ahead. Scout things out a bit," she offered.

I told her it was probably just me being overly sensitive and cautious. Nonetheless, she rode back and enlisted a few men to ride ahead. They took off and raced past me. As they crested a small hill, I saw three enormous wolves join them.

The day wore on. The sun blistered down on us. Luckily, there were several spots to get water. We stopped frequently to water the horses.

As we were getting close to Sacramento, one of the horses from the scout group came running back. It was covered in blood. Sela jumped off Tempest and caught the horse's reigns.

A barrage of questions, speculation, and emotions raced through the entire group.

Sela finally suggested, "Maybe we should go around Sacramento? Go over to the coast. Obviously, there's something bad there."

Quietly, I said, "It's Madeline."

Everyone turned and stared at me as I examined the horse. Along with all the blood splattered on the saddle, the horse had scorch marks on its back.

"Clearly, our scouts encountered her. I know it. I can feel it. She's waiting for us."

Someone took the horse away. Fear, confusion and grief hung in the air like unwelcome visitors.

"As I said, maybe we should go around Sacramento," Sela said determinedly.

I turned facing north. A sign said I-80 was only two miles away. "Okay, Madeline, if it's a one-on-one match you want, you got it," I muttered.

Sela heard me and was about to protest when I said, "Everyone stay put. Find a campsite for the night somewhere around here. I think there's a fairground nearby. I'm going up ahead by myself and will return when the way is clear. If I don't come back, turn around and find a place to hide." I mounted Hope and was about to ride off when Sela grabbed the reins.

"I won't leave your side. If you dare to battle Madeline alone, I will be there to—"

I cut her off and said sternly, "No, you won't. You have our child to protect. That's your number-one job. If Madeline wants to pay us a little surprise ambush, I will more than oblige her and hurt her badly. I will destroy her."

Sela stared up at me. Tears spilled over the edge of her eyes and streamed down her face. "Heckel Casey, you better come back to me. Your child needs his daddy and I need you. We all need you."

I bent down and kissed her. "Have dinner ready for me. I'll be hungry."

Leaning back up and ready to take off, I was suddenly hit with twenty pounds of cat. Picking Jerky up off my neck, I looked the cat in the face and said, "Not this time. I need you to stay here. Just this one time, please. I need to do this alone." I handed the cat to Sela and took off.

The small crowd that had assembled around us cheered when I took off. "Send the bitch back to hell, Heckel! You can do it!" The shouts of encouragement were just the thing I needed, considering my insides felt like ice water.

I kept Hope running at a good speed for a while and then backed her down when I saw the crossroads of I-5 and I-80. That odd feeling I was having increased. I sensed Madeline was close. As I passed the interchange to go west on I-80, I saw a woman sitting on the ground by the off-ramp.

"Hello, Madeline. At last, we finally get to have a chat in person instead of those ridiculous little girls you were sending," I yelled.

"Darn, I was so hoping to surprise you," she said as she stood up.

"You know, I expected someone a bit more glamorous…um…looking a little more like the witch from Sleeping Beauty. The homeless look really doesn't do it for you. Nice disguise though."

Madeline threw off the backpack and tattered, dirty raincoat. Suddenly, a flash sparked around her and her appearance changed. "How's this for glamorous?" Madeline's hair swirled around her head, forming long shiny curls as if they were being styled by an invisible hairdresser. Her clothes changed from rags to a long black cocktail dress with a provocative slit up one side. The clumsy hiking boots with holes transformed into jewel-studded black stiletto high heels.

"Now that's a bit more like what I expected…cheesy cliché."

"See anything you like?" she asked in her best, breathy seductive tone as her tongue lined her highly glossed upper lip. "How are you in bed, Heckel? I'm fantastic. I could take you to places you never imagined. Wanna find out? Come on over here." She raised her skirt higher on the slit side, revealing more of her leg.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever," I said as I got off Hope. "Don't go too far. I'll need you soon enough," I whispered, slapping the horse's behind. Hope ran back down I-5 and I saw her trot off into a field.

My insides began to seethe with the power that I had come to embrace.
This should be interesting. I wonder just how powerful she is?

"Heckel, I'll make a bargain with you. You lie down and die and I let all your happy little followers live."

I laughed heartily and replied, "Madeline, you must take me for a fool. I know full well if you kill me, you will waste no time in eliminating everything that remains good on this planet."

Madeline walked closer to me. I saw blue fire swirling in the palms of her hands. At the same time, the energy inside of me gathered force.

"I'll take great delight cutting that baby out of your pretty…"

That pushed my button. Before she could even finish that sentence, I threw my arm at her as though I were a determined pitcher trying for a no-hitter. A wide bolt of lightning flashed from my hand. The bolt hit Madeline in the chest and threw her backward.

"Now that's not very fair," she said menacingly as she got up. Instantly, she pitched two balls of spiraling blue flame at me.

I jumped out of the way. The balls struck one of the pillars of a nearby overpass. Concrete flew in all directions. A small chunk hit the side of my head. Blood streamed down the side of my face.

As I was wiping my face, she lobbed two more balls.

I put both hands up to block the approaching attack and the shield took the blast. Madeline ran closer to me with two more blue balls rolling around in the palms of her hands. Before she could throw them, I sent two of my own blasts at her.

The force took her by surprise and sent her crashing into the wall of the overpass. I didn't hesitate and sent bolts of lightning at her repeatedly. Her screams were so loud that I had to block my ears.

She got up and ran to the open ground outside of the overpass at the edge of the off-ramp. I ran after her, determined to kill her.

As I approached, she hit me with one of the balls of energy. It threw me a good twenty yards to the other side of the road.

Getting up, I spotted a nearby construction site. There were piles of rebar. I used the force inside me to pick up a small pile of the rebar and flung it at her.

She threw more fire at the rebar, melting most of them. However, one of the spears made it through the fire and pierced her in the chest. More screams.