“My colleagues found Lewis’s trailer and cabin,” Daniel said. “No sign of Boyle or the girls. Any idea where he might’ve taken them? Or do you think he might have eliminated them, too, in a way that would point the blame at you?”
“Matt?” Irene said.
His lips went into a hard line.
“Please, Matt. You said you did your best to protect them. Help them now.”
The man breathed deeply, let out a sigh, and said, “There’s a dump of a motel outside Dahlbert. He’s kept some girls there on occasion.”
“Name of the motel?”
“The Wander Inn.”
“Let’s hope they’re there,” Agent Shirley said.
“Does Boyle know where this kid with ESP might be staying?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know,” Paavola said. “Probably. He’s like a weasel, smart and mean.”
Daniel’s heart was racing. “I need to make some calls,” he said.
CHAPTER 44
Annie’s face was a mask of horror. Blood dripped from her cheeks like tears. The sound of the rifle shot reverberated in her head. When she opened her eyes, the world was veiled in red.
Then she saw him. He stepped in front of her, said gently, “You okay?”
Annie had trouble finding words. “I’m… not… dead?”
“You almost were,” Prophet said. “A second or two away, I’d guess.”
Annie lowered her gaze to the man who lay in the meadow grass. The side of his head was a mass of blood and exploded bone. She lifted her eyes to Prophet. “You?”
“I didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill you, wasn’t he?”
She thought a moment, gave one nod.
“Come on,” Prophet said. He took her hand. “Let’s get you to Henry and get you cleaned up.”
Jenny had washed her sister’s face of the blood and other matter that came from the bullet’s backsplash as it exited Liam Boyle’s skull. Because Annie’s T-shirt was spattered with blood as well, Jenny had loaned her another. Prophet had taken Waaboo away for a while, but now that Annie was cleaned up, he’d brought the boy back. They sat at the table in Henry Meloux’s cabin, with Prophet standing guard at the door.
Meloux said, “The woods are safe again, Prophet.”
“A little insurance never hurt, Henry.”
“How…?” Annie asked. She didn’t exactly recall what had happened. She remembered the rifle barrel inches from her forehead. She remembered her full embrace of what she believed was to come. She thought maybe she’d had her eyes closed, waiting for the bullet to do its work, but she couldn’t say for sure. She would never be able to say for sure.
“Mishomis warned us,” Waaboo said. “He told us a darkness had come to the woods. We hid.”
Annie looked at Prophet, who stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the afternoon light. “And you…?”
“I went to check things out.”
“Did you have to kill him?” Annie said.
“When he put his rifle to your head, I figured I had no choice.”
Annie frowned a moment, then said, “Thank you.” She looked beyond him to the light outside. “He’s just lying there.”
“His body,” Meloux said. “His spirit has already begun its next journey. Do not weep for this man, Anne O’Connor. This life was not kind to him. In the next, he will find peace.”
“I hope he goes to hell,” Waaboo said.
“Hush, Waaboo,” Jenny said.
“There is no hell, Little Rabbit,” Meloux offered. “Except what we create for ourselves here or others create for us. Better that this man’s spirit has moved on.”
“I need to pray for him,” Annie said.
“Even after what he intended to do to you?” There was a note of anger in Jenny’s voice. “And Waaboo?”
“It’s just like Henry said. Someone created a hell for him here that misshaped his life. We aren’t born with spirits bent on evil. I’ve seen firsthand the hearts of children warped by cruelty. I’ve spent years trying to do what I could to help. With that man, all that’s left to me is to offer prayers that his soul finds rest.”
“I can’t be that forgiving,” Jenny said.
Annie smiled just a little. “You’d make a terrible nun.”
Her cell phone rang. When she answered, Daniel said, “I’ve been trying to reach Jenny or Prophet. No one’s answering. I need to get word to them. Waaboo may be in great danger.”
