The Paladin (24 page)

"Don't be silly," he said. "You take my breath."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Then, why can't I be Jane?"

"In the movies, all Jane was good for was getting into trouble and getting rescued. You are no damsel in distress, Maggie Black. You
are
the hero. I have never seen your like before. You are beyond beautiful, but inside you are tough and fearless. I only wish that I had known you…"

"Go on, wished that you had known me…?"

Silas gave her a sad smile.

"Never mind…I was getting ahead of myself."

Silas lathered his face and began to shave.

"Was it worth it, Silas?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

Silas rinsed his razor and finished shaving in silence. Checking his work, he wiped the water and foam from his face with a towel.

"Maggie, I did what I had to do. That thing has killed and destroyed an untold number of lives. My life was a small price to pay."

"But people think you were the monster."

"I can't help that."

"What about the toll it took on your family?"

Silas tossed the towel on the sink and closed his eyes. "I was so sure they would have remembered the kind of man I was. I was wrong. My beloved wife and boys all went to their graves hating me. The only one who never wavered was Sara."

"Are you all right?"

"I feel…alone," he said.

Maggie stood up and put her arm around his shoulders.

"So, Maggie, given the short time you have known me, would you have thought me a monster?"

"Absolutely!" she said with a grin. "Not only that, I would have hunted your sorry ass down for the reward."

"Well, now that makes me feel sooooo much better."

"Seriously, Silas," she said. "You gave up everything: your family, your reputation, your very life, to do the right thing. I am honored to know you."

"You are just saying that because I look…what is the term? Oh, yeah,
smoking hot
," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, it does help."

Silas laughed.

"So what about you, Maggie? Tell me about your family."

"Not much to tell," she said. "I never knew my real folks. I was raised by Travis Smith, a good ol' boy from Alabama."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. Travis had his faults—many faults—but he loved me and did his best to give me a good home."

"How did he come to raise you?"

Maggie laughed.

"Travis told me that he had found me in a bathroom stall in a bar in Singapore. The Blue Moon Bar and Grill, to be exact."

"Really?"

"Who knows," she said. "He was always spinning a wild yarn, but he did stick to that story."

"Where did you learn to fight? Maggie, you would give the Brown Bomber a run for his money."

"Besides drinking, fighting was what Travis knew best. As far back as I can remember he was training me to fight."

"Where is Travis now?"

"He died six years ago. Liver finally had enough of the abuse he was heaping on it. That is why I never touch the stuff."

"Sorry."

Maggie took his damp face in her hands, inspecting his work.

"I assure you that you will find it smooth as a baby's bottom."

"I will be the judge of that," she said caressing his face with her own.

Maggie began to kiss him.

"Maggie…I don't…" Silas said, pulling away.

"Listen," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. "We are both lonely people who have been dealt a raw deal. All we have is each other. Besides, we look damn good together."

"Has anyone ever told you, Maggie, that there is something terribly wrong with you?"

While she laughed, Silas took her face in his hands and tenderly kissed her.

30

Celeste ripped a heavy steel grate from its frame as if it were made from cardboard. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the one-hundred-and-fifty pound screen off the roof of the grim three-story building.

"John's plan, this, 'culling the herd,’ as he calls it, will no doubt result in disaster," said Celeste Beck as she wiped the grime from her delicately shaped hands. "Regardless of what he thinks, God will not stand idly by and let me exterminate most of the life on this miserable planet. I am afraid that the years have taken a toll on his mind, as well as his body, but what am I to do? He has been the only thing I have ever loved…well almost, but that is over and done. I cannot bear to be alone again. I can't believe that I miss that self-righteous Boy Scout, Silas Cole."

Celeste silently opened the skylight. Closing her eyes she inhaled the heavenly aroma emanating from below.

"It is almost intoxicating," she purred. "I should have thought of this earlier." Taking a short hop, she leapt feet first into the opening and disappeared.

For close to a year the Bryson City Drug Taskforce had cracked down on several drug operations within the city. A victim of their own success, the Bryson City Jail was now hopelessly overcrowded and in violation of State mandates. Thanks to Celeste, after tonight, that wouldn’t be a problem.

31

Maggie lay wrapped in Silas's strong arms.

"That was wonderful," he said as he kissed her.

"I…you…yeah, good," she stammered.

Silas smiled and gently kissed her eyes.

"I could get used to this, Ghost Boy," she said.

"About that—"

"Wait a minute," she hissed. "Do you smell bacon?"

"Yes…I do."

Throwing back the sheet, Maggie and Silas sprang from their bed. Silas snatched a gun from the nightstand while Maggie took up Kali.

Throwing caution to the wind, the lovers ripped open the bedroom door and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Silas rushed in, gun ready, while Maggie was close behind, Kali raised high.

"I don't know what is more disturbing, your lack of hospitality or clothes," said Larry.

"Larry?" asked Maggie.

Standing before a kitchen table, literally covered with plates of hot food, stood the enigmatic Larry.

"Long time, no see, Silas," said Larry with a smile.

Silas in one smooth motion aimed and fired. The bullet stopped dead a millimeter from the tip of Larry's nose.

"Now that was just plain rude," said Larry. "Understandable, but rude nonetheless." The bullet fell to the floor at Larry's feet.

"Too bad it wasn't longer," Silas said as he lowered his gun.

"You two have history?" asked Maggie.

"Larry was the one who persuaded me to take the Collamarr way back when I was seventeen, in Macau," said Silas. "The day before I trapped Celeste, Larry here came to my home and explained the situation and what I had to do. Gave me a monster hunter's journal to study and a Webley-Fosbery revolver. I sat up all night reading Rufus Pritchard's journal. I knew that I could not kill her, so I thought to expose them before the community."

"How did that work out, preacher?" asked the smiling Larry.

"You know damn well how that worked out! Everything I had worked for…gone!"

"Please, put on some clothes before I go blind," said Larry. "We will talk over breakfast."

***

"You two sure stirred a hornet's nest back in Bryson City," said Larry as he covered his biscuits with gravy. "I am afraid that you played into Beck's hands."

"How is that?" asked Maggie. "The house was a trap and we escaped."

"With my help," said Larry. "And by the way, you are welcome, but now Zack here stands accused of the murder of Beck and his entire household staff."

"Zack?" asked Silas.

"The Po Po lifted your fingerprints, or should I say Zack's, off the pry bar you left behind. That, along with your not so carefully hidden truck."

"I feel sick," said Maggie.

"It will be all right, Maggie," said Silas taking a sip of coffee. "It is only a bump in the road."

"Some bump," said Maggie.

"Oh, it gets better," said Larry. "A little birdie told me that Beck plans to unleash Celeste on mankind just as soon as she is at full power. I figure we have a week at most before they topple civilization."

"My vision…all the bodies; it was true."

"It doesn't have to be," said Silas "I stopped her once. We will do it again."

"But once we stop Celeste, how will we clear Zack?"

"We don't have to because Zack will be dead," said Silas. "To operate the Collamarr it takes a willing sacrifice, and that is me. I did it once, I will do it again."

"You can't," said Maggie. "You are a spirit—"

"A spirit in Zack's body."

"You can't kill Zack!" she said.

"Zack is as good as dead," Silas said. "You saw what they did to him. He lives only as long as I possess his body. I leave and he dies. I figure he might as well die doing something useful."

"It's not fair!" Maggie said.

"Trust me, life isn't all that fair, darling," said Silas. "We have to do this, there isn't any other way."

We will see about that!
Thought Maggie, who wasn't all that concerned about Zack.
You will not get rid of me that easily, Ghost Boy.

"We know where the Collamarr is, Larry," said Maggie. "The witch we killed said it was in her house."

"We just don't know where that is," said Silas.

"It makes sense," said Larry. "She was powerful enough to shield it even from me. I will give you the address, but it won't be easy, baby girl."

"Of course," she said. "But if the police are after Zack, how do we avoid being arrested?"

Larry rose and moved toward Silas.

Taking a sharp nail, Larry gashed his own wrist. Silver blood oozed from the wound.

"Sit still, Preacher Cole," said Larry. "Won't hurt…much."

"What do you mean it won't hurt
much
?"

Dipping the nail in the blood, Larry quickly drew a complicated design over Silas's face and neck. The angel blood vanished as it absorbed into the skin.

"Now what?" asked Maggie.

"Silas, concentrate on Sara. They way she looks, the way she moves, the way she
is
."

"Why? What—"

"Do it!" Larry commanded in a thunderous voice.

"Oh…my…God!" said Maggie as Silas turned into the very image of Sara: dress, glasses, and all.

Silas looked at Maggie and the illusion shattered and he returned to himself.

"Use the blood only in an emergency," said Larry. "You should be able change maybe two or three more times."

"Thank you," said Maggie.

"The BBSP will give you all the information on how to breach her defenses. Mrs. Anderson's House of Horrors is located at 893 Hamilton Drive. I suggest you do this under the cover of darkness, preferably tonight. The sooner we get the Collamarr back the better."

"Don't worry," said Maggie. "We will get it back."

"I know you will," Larry said with a smile. "I have grown attached to you, baby girl, so don't screw up and get yourself killed. You would make me look bad."

Suddenly, Silas and Maggie were alone.

"Now, Ghost Boy, what are we going to do until tonight?" she asked, biting her lip.

"I don't know," he said with a smile. "I have been dying to try out the bathtub on the porch."

32

Sara and Brenda sat at a small kitchen table eating an early lunch.

"How is your sandwich, dear?"

"Good. Very good," Brenda said nibbling at the bread.

"What's wrong, dear? You seem awfully jumpy."

"Yes, dear, what is wrong?" asked Pastor Mills.

Brenda looked over at the third chair and the bloody remains of her father. The ex-minister looked like a gruesome zombie movie reject.

Sara watched Brenda stare at the empty chair.

"What are you looking at, dear?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing; nothing at all. I was just thinking of Zack."

Brenda felt she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Since she had chauffeured Sara to Chattanooga, she had been harassed nonstop by the specter of her father.

John Mills sat in his chair, smiling at his daughter. His face and head were distorted due to the block of concrete that Brenda had used to murder him.

What do you want from me?

"I thought that I made myself clear, darling daughter," the ghastly spirit said. "Zack and Maggie need your help, and what do you do? You desert them like a little coward."

"They asked me to go," she said aloud. "I wanted to stay."

"In my present circumstance, I have learned that a great deal is riding on Zack and Maggie winning their little game. They need your help."

"Who are you talking to, Brenda?" asked Sara.

"No, they said they don't need me."

"You are a murderer, a terrible daughter, and now I find that you are a coward as well. Surprise me, go back and don't take no for an answer, girl."

"I don't know."

"You already face Hell for striking down a helpless man of God."

"Liar!" she screamed, standing up from the table. "You were anything but. You didn't even believe in God!"

"I'll admit that little fact came as a shock. Boy, did I screw up! Never thought in a million years that the old boy was real. However, you are going to incur His wrath as I will, if you don't do the right thing."

"You're the one who deserves Hell, not me!"

"We can argue back and forth all day, but until you go back and make things right, we're going to spend a lot of time together. In fact, all of eternity."

"What is going on, Brenda?" said Sara. "You're scaring me."

"It's alright, Sara, but I'm going to have to leave you here. Looks like I have to go back to Bryson City."

John Mills smiled broadly, dripping blood down his chin as he said, "I got shotgun!"

33

Dressed in bright orange inmate jumpsuits, Leon Brooks and Hubert Coffee walked through the darkened streets looking for trouble. The thugs had started a two-man crime wave in the aftermath of the storm. However, before they had a chance to get into real trouble, the police caught them.