“Yep.”
“We should give her a call.”
Lucas sang the song to himself. He just couldn’t get her out of his head. Lucas was entering a strange world. And the voices joined in with his singing.
<°)))><
Aaron saw a car appear from the shrubbery just up ahead of them and turn on to the road in the opposite direction. Dust, lifted by the car, momentarily hid the departing vehicle as it drove off.
Mackenzie sat forward in the car, looking for the entrance. “We may need to slow down here, Aaron. The painter guy said the driveway was easy to miss.”
Aaron slowed down. They passed a rusted-out car sitting in a well-grassed paddock. The dust raised by the other car was settling, so he could just make out the driveway the car came from. There was a small break in the greenery, which he pointed out to Mackenzie.
“That could be where that car came out from. Maybe the road leads to a couple of properties,” Aaron said.
“Maybe. It’s close to the painters map. Okay . . . let’s turn up it.”
They passed an old sign lying in the bush and turned into a dirt road. After a short drive an old Federation home came into view.
“Isn’t that place cute, Aaron? “
Aaron wasn’t into cute houses yet. “It has character, Mackenzie.”
She laughed.
Churchie moved in his seat. “This is the place, Aaron.”
Aaron got out of the car and looked around, telling the others to stay put.
The place looked deserted. He sniffed and saw smoke from something smouldering down near a row of trees. Someone had been here recently. Aaron walked up the steps on to the veranda and headed towards the entrance, to be greeted by a large lion’s head holding a brass ring. It seemed out of place for a farmhouse. He lifted the ring and rapped it a few times—the raps returned a booming echo. He didn’t expect anyone to answer; the place had that deserted feel.
Aaron walked to the end of the veranda and stared out towards a shed. He turned towards the others. Churchie was out of the Prado and pointing towards the shed. Aaron came back down the stairs and headed in that direction.
He heard footsteps on the gravel as Mackenzie came up behind him. He would have preferred her to stay back, but maybe she wanted to exorcise some past demons. He told her to stand back while he opened the shed door. He looked in: benches, monitors on the wall, filing cabinets with drawers open. He walked in. He looked inside one of the drawers—empty.
Mackenzie came in behind him. “They’re in that room there, Aaron.”
Aaron looked at the handle. It had a combination and sensor light. “Must be a remote somewhere.”
Mackenzie found it.
Aaron opened the door and jumped back as two men stood there, staring at him.
“Are you two okay?”
“We are, and thank you.”
<°)))><
They all sat on the steps. Another police car came down the driveway, sending another plume of dust into the sky. The thump-thump of a helicopter sounded close by. Next the media vehicles would arrive.
Aaron looked around the property. This place was going to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. The ramifications of the technology meant a number of agencies would be involved in the investigation.
They watched the minister being taken to a police vehicle.
“He’s a remorseful man. He’d been initially driven by a lust for power, and finally grief took over. He lost his way with his faith,” said the Rev. “One of the last things he said to me before you found us was that he didn’t fully understand the things of God like he thought he did. He realised that his heart was deceitful and desperately wicked. He was burdened by this and was a shattered man. I told him to seek out God again; his faith and understanding will be restored. He knows that with God, all things are possible.”
Aaron listened to the Rev and decided he was a special man. You could feel his love for others. Aaron watched as the Rev turned his attention to Mackenzie.
“Mackenzie . . . he’s burdened by the sins he has committed, by what he has done. He realised that his so-called righteous acts are like filthy rags in God’s sight. I know this won’t be easy but you will need to forgive this man and uphold him in prayer.”
“I understand.” It was an uncomplicated reply.
Aaron took it all in. But me? He was struggling . . . sin? It seemed so old-fashioned. But one thing remained: Aaron’s dad’s death had not been addressed. Lucas was still out and about. The police had told Aaron they would find him. He believed they would—but if they didn’t?
The Rev walked over to Aaron and handed him something. “Put this in your pocket, look at it later.”
Aaron did as he was told.
Chapter 29
AN OCCASIONAL BEEP BROKE the silence. Small splashes of green from the monitor’s indicators lit up in the darkness. A door opened, the florescent lights sensed movement and switched on. The hooded man looked around the facility, and saw the small silos and the aluminium case on the floor in the corner. He walked over, picked up the case and left the facility.
He blended into the darkness; his car parked in the adjacent block.
A police car pulled into the Cryonics, Inc. facility not long after.
<°)))><
