DevilMayRide

4
Jackie was whooping and hollering with excitement. Sadie rolled her eyes and began packing up their cleaning gear. Her employee helped, but the minute they’d brought the bins outside to the carport, Jackie tore off her respirator and laughed loudly.
“Oh my God, there’s got to be thousands in there!” Jackie giggled. “Wow. I can’t get over it!”
“I’ll call it in,” Sadie said with a dire tone after removing her own headgear.
“Oh. Yeah.” Jackie nodded. “I guess this job’ll be put on hold too, huh?”
“I wish we’d never opened up the walls until the rest was done,” Sadie said, toeing the ground angrily. “And I wish I’d never opened the package and found that cash.”
“But it’s your job,” Jackie insisted. “You’re removing the boards due to contamination. Whatever was in the plastic could be contaminated too, so you needed to check.” She grinned. “Besides, weren’t you curious?”
“We don’t get paid to be curious,” Sadie snapped. “There are still supplies inside. While I make the call to the authorities, could you go back in and get the rest of the stuff?”
“Sure.”
Sadie took a couple of bins and loaded them into the van. Then she took a seat behind the wheel and dug out her cell phone to call in their findings to the local law. When she was off the phone, she watched Jackie bring a bin out of the house. She had almost completely removed her gear when she changed her mind and began donning it again before going back inside. She must’ve forgotten something.
I’ll have to talk to her about double-checking before doffing her gear.
While Jackie was inside, a single motorcycle rider pulled up. He sat on his idling bike, staring at her. Sadie looked in the side mirrors of her van and watched him. Behind his matte black full-face helmet, Sadie couldn’t see his face, but she felt his eyes on her. After a moment, he turned his bike around and took off in the direction he’d come.
A few minutes later, there was a sound in the distance. The unmistakable growing roar of a platoon of Harley-Davidsons headed their way. Sadie’s throat clogged with fear. She saw Jackie had just made it outside with yet another bin. She picked up the container and walked with it toward the van. She looked unconcerned by the growing roar of the motorcycles until Sadie rolled down her window and screamed, “Run!”
Suddenly Jackie got it. She bolted the final few feet toward the van clumsily carrying the bin. Sadie helped her heave it into the back. The two jumped inside Sadie’s vehicle. Just as they locked their doors, the hogs thundered up the driveway. Two cornered tightly around to the front of Sadie’s van and a dozen surrounded them. She couldn’t go anywhere. They were trapped unless she chose to back over some bikes and take out some tattooed thugs. Probably she wouldn’t get far after that. She was pretty sure those who remained would take offense.
“What do we do? What do we do?” Jackie squealed.
“We lock our doors,” Sadie said. Her voice was calm, but she was no longer perspiring just because of the heat.
To the left of the van was a black cherry Harley with flame detailing on the tank. Astride the bike was a large, bearded man in faded leathers. Sadie watched as he swung his beefy legs off his bike and strode toward the van.
“Tell him we’re just leaving,” Jackie advised. “And tell him the cops are on the way because of the money.”
“Yeah, I’ll just tell this group of fine gentlemen that we uncovered one of their stashes of cash inside their old clubhouse and they’re about to lose it all to the evidence room,” Sadie whispered back sarcastically.
“On second thought, maybe we should be quiet about the money.”
“You think?”
The beefy guy rapped his Neanderthal knuckles hard against the driver’s-side window, and Sadie flinched.
“What the hell are you doing here?” the bearded biker dude shouted through Sadie’s window.
“We were hired to do cleaning,” Sadie shouted back. “But we’re just leaving.”
There was no way she was lowering her window, but the thin plate of glass gave her little comfort. She knew it wouldn’t take these thugs long to break her windows and haul her and Jackie out for their own amusement. Swallowing the acrid taste of fear, Sadie slipped the gearshift into reverse but carefully kept her foot on the brake as she did, and she looked him in the face. Even though she felt she’d pee her pants from fear, Sadie’s gaze never faltered. They stared each other down for a full minute. Then the ugly dude glanced around Sadie over to Jackie. His eyes scraped hotly over her body and he made a crude display of elaborately licking his lips before he returned his gaze to Sadie’s.
“This here is Fierce Force property,” he growled, and a fine spray of spittle hit her window. “This ain’t a place for broads unless you wanna be our broads.”
“Got it.”
He tapped the window with a thick finger yellowed from nicotine.
“Don’t come back.”
With an abrupt nod of his head all the riders angled their bikes away from the property. Within seconds the roar of their bikes grew distant, but Sadie’s hands still had a death grip on her steering wheel.
“Holy shit,” Jackie breathed. “I thought we were dead meat.”
Sadie could only nod. She didn’t breathe steady again until the cops were on the property and Zack was with them.
“I leave you alone for an hour and you end up rolling in cash,” Zack said, dragging his fingers through his hair. “And pissing off a platoon of career criminals.”
“It was somethin’,” Jackie laughed, leaning casually up against the hood of her car as if she hadn’t just been shaking like a leaf along with Sadie. “We pop off the baseboard and there’s all this plastic stuff. We opened one and it’s money. Thousands. We can’t believe it. Then the next thing you know, we’re in the van surrounded by scary bikers, but Sadie here wasn’t even fazed. It was cool.”
“It was not cool,” Sadie corrected, ticked off at Jackie’s attempt to glamorize the situation. “Those bikers wanted to chew us up and spit us out. But first they would’ve had themselves a little gang rape party.” Her voice caught. After a deep breath she focused on the business side. “Plus, this is the second job in one day that we’ve been pulled from. I’m losing money here.”
“Guess you could’ve pocketed a few of those bundles from the wall and you would’ve been just fine,” Jackie said. At Sadie’s cutting look she quickly added, “Just kidding.”
Jackie bent over to pick up her water bottle from where she’d put it on the ground. Sadie watched Zack as he watched Jackie. Her cutoffs rode up and revealed more of her firm, twenty-eight-year-old legs that disappeared into her frayed cut-offs. Sadie’s thirty-six-year-old calves ached sadly in reply. It wasn’t that she was out of shape. Sadie knew she could outpace Jackie on a long-distance run. She just didn’t think Zack would consider another go-round in bed just because she beat Jackie in a marathon.
“Could you give us a minute?” Sadie asked Jackie.
“Sure. There are at least two cute cops around here who haven’t taken my statement yet,” Jackie said with a giggle. She sauntered away, adding an extra swing to her hips that made Sadie want to throw up.
Sadie turned to Zack. “The woman who was sliced open and left in the field, her name was Penny Torrez.” Zack looked like he was daydreaming and Sadie had a feeling those thoughts were about Jackie. “Hello?!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“Sorry,” he said. “Got a lot on my mind.”
“Tough. We’ve all got to work together. If you and Jackie would just roll up your hanging tongues and keep the drool off your chins for long enough to get the job done, I’d really appreciate it,” Sadie spit.
“Excuse me?” He looked at her with a combination of amusement and anger on his face. “Huh. How about that? I swear your eyes are looking just a little green today.”
She blushed from her head to her toes.
“As I was trying to say, the woman in the field—her name was Penny Torrez,” Sadie said impatiently. “We need to find a way to let the cops know so they don’t waste time searching for her identity.”
“They already know. Her purse was found nearby. Doesn’t look like any attempt was made to hide who she was, or else they didn’t get a chance because we scared them off.”
“Oh. Good.”
“That’s why Carr asked me to come back to the house in Kenmore. Torrez’s rap sheet showed I was the arresting officer when she was picked up hooking.”
“Wow. Small world.”
“Yeah. Her name doesn’t ring familiar to me, but she wasn’t the only solicitation pickup I ever made.”
There was a forced casualness to Zack’s tone and Sadie got the feeling he was leading up to something.
“Is Carr worried about you cleaning the meth lab there, since you got a connection to Penny Torrez?” Sadie guessed.
“Not just that scene. He’s considering getting me to back off all jobs linked to Fierce Force. That means this one too. Just in case.”
“In case what?”
“My guess is the order came from higher up. Who knows what kind of case the feds are trying to put together against the leaders of the FF? They’ll want to eliminate any possible conflict of interest that could blow their case.”
“Conflict? What kind of conflict could there be when you aren’t called in except by me to help clean up after all evidence is collected?” Sadie said, sounding annoyed.
“Look, Torrez was the old lady of an FF member. Her body was found outside an FF meth lab. Torrez had links to FF. I had links to Torrez.” He shrugged. “It’s not exactly brain surgery.”
“Yeah, but it’s stupid. If she was hooking, probably half of the force had links to her.”
“Yeah, but half of the force wasn’t encouraged to hand in their badge because of a drug problem,” he said quietly.
“You became addicted to painkillers after taking a bullet for your partner,” Sadie said indignantly. “That hardly makes you a meth addict. Besides, you’re working for me now. I’m talking to Carr and telling him he can’t treat one of my employees like this.”
“Let it go.”
“No, it’s just not right and—”
“I said, let it go!” Zack shouted.
When she opened her mouth to speak, he stopped her.
“They need to protect the integrity of the case. I’m fine with it. As long as Egan is back handling his meth-lab cleanup company soon, this won’t affect my working for you, right? So it’s no big deal.”
She nodded.
“Okay. Fine.”
After a minute Zack relaxed.
“So Torrez’s name—I take it a little bird told you.”
“Actually, a big gorilla. I’m glad the cops know her name. I couldn’t figure out how to explain that Torrez’s dead, tattooed biker boyfriend gave me her name.” Sadie looked over and watched the police coming and going from the house in full hazmat gear. “I should’ve gotten Jake the Snake to tell me about the money.”
“Jake the Snake?”
“The guy we’re mopping up at this location. Torrez’s hunka hunka burning love.”
“Right. Gorilla, tattooed biker dude.”
“Yup. How much money do they figure was inside that wall anyway?”
“They won’t know for sure until it’s counted, but I remember seeing bundles of cash like that in evidence from a bank heist. If that wall is floor-to-ceiling with bundles of twenties, it could easily make a hundred grand.”
Sadie let out a low whistle.
“We mop a lot of blood for that kind of cash and these guys make it selling crank to kids. Doesn’t seem right. Snake said something about helping himself to some of the valuables.”
“If he tried to make off with the FF’s cash, that was probably what bought him a bullet in the chest.”
“He wanted to start a new life with Torrez and the baby.”
“Stealing from bikers gets you a death warrant and a life in hiding or on the run. Not exactly a riding-off-into-the-sunset ending.”
“For a guy who handed in his badge, you’ve got a big mouth,” Detective Orr suddenly barked from behind them. Orr was a cynical cop who had a bulldog face and looked like he ate nails for breakfast without any sugar.
Sadie and Zack turned to face the detective.
“We can’t talk about the money,” Orr growled. “And neither should you.” He looked specifically at Zack.
“It’s not me you’ve got to worry about,” Zack said, his voice deceptively casual, but Sadie noted the tightening of his jaw as he nodded to the street.
The Emerald Nine News van was just pulling up.
“Aw, shit on a stick,” Orr grumbled, and headed off in the direction of the van, ordering some officers to accompany him.
“Let’s call it a day,” Sadie said, suddenly sick of the heat.
Just before Sadie dropped Zack off at his apartment in Bellevue, she remembered to tell him about her visit from Thuggy.
“He just showed up at the house out of the blue. Said he needs the work,” Sadie explained.
“Use him,” Zack replied, opening the passenger door.
“Are you sure?” Sadie frowned. “He showed up drunk at a scene.”
“He got a beer dumped on him during a fight. He wasn’t drunk.”
“That’s what Thuggy told me, but I thought he was feeding me a line.”
“It’s the truth. I did security with him for a short time before I came to work for you. He’s a good guy. Use him.”
With that last comment Zack closed the door, leaving Sadie shaking her head.
The rest of the drive home seemed to take forever. It was the dinner rush, but no cars near Seattle were rushing; they were doing the bumper-kissing-bumper crawl. By the time she pulled the company van into the garage attached to her house, Sadie was dreaming of an ice-cold vodka martini after a refreshing shower.
She stepped into her house through the garage entrance and stripped. The tiny hallway that was between the garage and the rest of her home had a shower stall next to her washer and dryer. She’d had it installed to prevent any part of her stinky career choice from entering the rest of her house. The clothes she wore went directly into the washing machine before Sadie jumped into the hot spray. She soaped, rinsed, and repeated every inch of her body to help wash away the grungy smell of Jake the Snake’s decomposing corpse.
After scrubbing down, she snagged a clean towel from a nearby trunk, wrapped it tightly around her damp body, and opened the hall door. She quick-stepped into her bedroom.
And screamed.
“Jesus!” Sadie hissed, and stomped her foot in anger. “Dawn, you just about gave me a heart attack.”
Sadie’s sister grunted as she sat up in bed.
“Sorry, I came over to talk and decided to take a nap.”
“Did you ever hear of calling first?”
“I left a message on your answering machine and your cell phone.” Dawn yawned. “Besides, didn’t you see my car parked a few houses down and notice that you didn’t have to disarm your alarm system when you came in?”
Sadie frowned. No, she hadn’t noticed. That wasn’t good. She needed to be vigilant about that kind of thing. Last year getting in over her head in a murder-suicide cleanup had almost resulted in her own death.
“Whatever. That spare key I gave you was only to be used in case of emergencies. A nap isn’t an emergency,” Sadie snapped.
“I’m nearly nine months pregnant and Seattle’s having a heat wave. Trust me. My need to nap comfortably is an emergency.” Dawn swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched like a cat. A cat with a pumpkin belly.
Sadie opened her drawers, pulled out clean clothes, dropped the towel and dressed. When she turned, she regarded two large boxes in the corner.
“What are those?”
“We’ve been converting the spare room into a nursery. Those are the boxes I’ve been storing for you. Remember, I said I’d drop them off?”
“Oh. Brian’s things.”
“Yeah.”
Sadie stared hard at the cardboard separating her from her dead brother’s belongings and swallowed thickly.
“I know you’ve had a bad day,” Dawn said softly. “Maybe I should just go.”
“What do you know about my day?”
“Thanks to Emerald Nine News, all of Seattle knows about your day. I even recorded it for you.”
“Oh, God.” Sadie groaned.
“Your hair looked really cute on TV. I could tell right away that you touched up the highlights.” She was walking out of the bedroom. “Let’s watch it.”
“Forget it.”
“Really?” She sounded disappointed. “Mom and Dad have already called. Don’t you want to know what they saw?” Her voice held a touch of amusement that made Sadie anxious.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Sadie said, but Dawn only shrugged in reply. “Fine. Let’s get this over with,” Sadie relented.
They walked into the living room, where they were greeted by Hairy, Sadie’s black-and-white pet bunny. Sadie scooped the rabbit onto her lap as she waited for her sister to rewind the tape. Dawn lowered herself carefully into the big armchair next to the sofa and hit play on the remote.
The scene opened to a close-up of reporter Scott Reed, using his most serious face. His wavy, sun-streaked hair was tousled by a light breeze, making him look like a model out on a fashion shoot, and his blue eyes glinted with star quality. He gestured to the house in Kenmore standing ominously behind him.
“A reliable source told us that the traumatic-incident cleanup crew from Scene-2-Clean were here decontaminating a clandestine meth lab when they made the shocking discovery.” The camera cut away from twentysomething Scott Reed’s chiseled features and zoomed in on the Scene-2-Clean company van. Beside the van Sadie stood offering Zack a broad smile of her own. The camera went for a close-up of the two of them and showed Zack as he leaned in to whisper in Sadie’s ear. Sadie proceeded to toss back her hair in what appeared to be a flirtatious manner and giggled while gazing at Zack with a look of unadulterated adoration.
“Oh. My. God!” Sadie shrieked as she got to her feet. “Turn it off. I’ve seen enough.”
“That was about all there was of you anyway. The cutesy reporter went on to talk about a baby found with a mutilated goat. Tell me that’s not true.” Dawn put her hand on her swollen belly.
“Never mind the barn animals. I looked like a love-struck teenager with Zack as my prom date!” Sadie cried. “I do not look like that. Please, tell me I don’t look at Zack that way.”
“Well . . .”
“Oh my God, just shoot me now!” Sadie screamed.
She began to pace. “We were just joking around a little about him getting information and still having connections with the police. That’s all it was. Really. Nothing more.” She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “Christ, people are going to think we’re cold and inconsiderate. It looks like we’re joking at such a serious scene. Or worse, they might think we’re lovers.”
“You did sleep together.”
“Once. It was a mistake.”
“It was a mistake because you only did it once,” Dawn pointed out. “Remember how things were before? He worked for you, but you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. Finally, the two of you came to your senses and gave in to what was obviously between you—”
“It was right after that freak nearly killed both me and Maeva at my place. It wasn’t like we dated. I went to stay with Zack for a couple days because my place was trashed and—” Sadie stopped short. Memories of that time always made her think of Pam and thoughts of Pam always cut deep.
Sadie and Pam became quick friends when they worked together at the same grade school. Sadie had taught second grade and Pam was the special education teacher, but they’d been more than coworkers. Pam had been Sadie’s shoulder to cry on when Brian died and a big supporter of Sadie’s metaphysical talent. She’d been the kind of friend you could lean on, but she still gave Sadie a kick in the ass whenever she needed one.
Sadie was shaken from her memories of Pam by the fact that Dawn was still talking. She was saying something more about Zack.
“Look,” Sadie said. “It was a bad time and Zack felt sorry for me. He slept with me out of pity and—”
“Pity. Right.” She smiled.
“It was pity. Anyway. It happened only once and then Zack turned to ice and things got all weird between us for months. We’re okay now. Finally.” She reconsidered and admitted, “Well, sort of. But this!” Sadie waved her hands at the television just as the phone rang.
“Hello?” Sadie answered.
“I saw you on the six o’clock news,” Maeva Morrison said over the line. “You didn’t tell me you and Zack were back together.”
“First of all, we were never together, so there’s no way we could be back together. Secondly, channel nine caught us joking around at a scene and the reporter played up a sneaky angle. As a friend and a psychic, you’d think you’d be able to figure these things out yourself!”
“Okay, I get it. Calm down. You don’t have to yell.”
Sadie blew out a breath. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.” “Yeah, and we should probably talk about that goat thing. I might know some stuff—”
“I don’t want to talk about the goat. As a matter of fact, I’d be quite fine never hearing the word ‘goat’ ever again. Call me later. After I’ve had a couple of martinis.”
“Better yet, how about I come over? You’ve got air-conditioning, right?”
Sadie rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
“I’ve got to go,” she said, and disconnected.
Dawn was looking at her with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
“Don’t look all smug like you’ve got me figured out. I do not, I repeat, do not look at Zack that way,” Sadie said vehemently. “That reporter just caught us at a weird moment and that’s all.”
“Uh-huh.”
The phone rang again and Sadie recognized the number as belonging to their parents. Dawn reached for the receiver.
“Touch that phone and you can kiss any future napping here good-bye,” Sadie warned.
“You’ll have to talk to Mom eventually,” Dawn said, and she yawned again. “You and I both know she expects you to throw me a surprise baby shower before I pop.”
“What kind of surprise is it if you already know?”
“I promise to act surprised.”
“How about we skip the shower, but I buy you an extranice gift?”
“No. I want a shower. Tacky decorations. Yummy food. The works.” She got slowly to her feet. “I’ve got to pee. Again.” She sighed and shuffled off down the hall.
“I’ve got to go. John’s taking me out for Italian,” Dawn said on her return. “I’ve had a craving for fettuccine Alfredo. Feel like coming along?”
“Thanks, but not tonight.”
Sadie passed a couple hours first sharing a salad with Hairy and then going for a nice long jog. Her body ached on her return, but it was a good-to-be-alive soreness. She felt relaxed and settled down to watch mindless sitcoms. On a commercial break she’d just poured herself an icy martini when the doorbell rang. It was just after eight and Sadie assessed her guest through a peephole she’d had installed.
“I didn’t think you were serious,” Sadie said to Maeva when she opened the door.
“I never joke about air-conditioning when it’s almost a hundred degrees in my kitchen.” The woman with the sharp-angled features brushed back her black curls and stepped around Sadie to walk into the living room. She stopped, spread her arms wide, and sighed. “Bliss.”
“Ya know, it’s cooled off to about seventy-five outside. If you just opened a few windows at your place, it would be fine.”
“Tried that, but there’s no breeze and Terry’s been working on new recipes for a wedding next month. Our oven’s been on all day and all night. It’s like a freakin’ inferno.”
“Oh, c’mon.” Sadie rolled her eyes. “We both know that ever since you met Terry and he moved in, your life has been perfect.”
“I’m not complaining,” Maeva said, a smile playing on her lips. “But living with a caterer isn’t all fancy desserts and gourmet meals.” Maeva plunked herself down on Sadie’s sofa and put her feet up on the coffee table. “Well, I guess it is that, but according to Terry, you can’t use a microwave to bake. Practically everything he caters has to be cooked in a hot oven that’s going almost twenty-four/seven.” She bent and patted Hairy’s head as he paused to wiggle his nose at her. “How’s it hanging, Hairy? Be grateful your mom didn’t find that goat alive or you’d have company.”
“Ugh. Let’s not talk about the goat,” Sadie said, cringing in disgust.
“Yeah, except that’s exactly why I’m here. To talk about the goat.”
“I thought you were here for a martini and to suck up my AC.”
“Those are just great bonuses.” She glanced over at Sadie. “About that martini . . .”
Sadie went into the kitchen and returned with a fresh vodka martini for Maeva in a frosted glass. She handed Maeva her drink, then sat in the chair next to the sofa.
“Dawn was napping here when I got home. I think the heat’s getting to her,” Sadie remarked.
“The heat’s getting to all of us, but Dawn must be really uncomfortable because she has a built-in furnace growing in her belly, making it worse for her. Speaking of her belly, when’s the baby shower?”
“I kept hoping Dawn’s friend Chloe would step up to the plate, but so far, she hasn’t. She keeps using the excuse about how she just had a baby of her own a couple weeks ago, so she’s not up to it.”
“She’s evil,” Maeva said, smiling over her martini. “But Dawn’s your sister. You should throw the shower.”
“Yeah, so my mom tells me. Over. And over. But I’m busy as hell handling Scene-2-Clean and Scour Power. I have to schedule time to breathe. Besides, I’m not that good at this kind of stuff.”
“It’s not that big a deal. Just pick a day and I promise to help you with the details. It’ll be great.”
Sadie sipped her drink and eyed her friend from over her martini glass.
“You’ll help? Really? We’re talking a normal shower, right? No séances or trying to contact our ancestors from beyond the grave?”
“You know, some people actually like that kind of thing. That’s why my business does so well.”
“Only crazy people like that stuff.”
“Madame Maeva’s Psychic Café is not filled with crazy people.”
Sadie looked at her pointedly.
“Well, not only crazy people.” Maeva giggled. “Fine. If you insist, I’ll help you with a normal boring shower. Nothing new age. I’ll even get Terry to make the food. He can do cute little triangle sandwiches, appies, and canapés that will knock your mother’s socks off.”
“I’ve tasted Terry’s cooking. If you’re offering his services, you can consider it a deal.” Sadie clapped her hands in delight. “I’ll choose a day and let you know.”
There was a moment of silence while they sipped their drinks.
“Now, about that goat . . .”
“Oh, God.” Sadie blew out an exasperated breath. “It was a freakish thing done by some sort of a weirdo. The baby, thankfully, made it out alive and that’s all that matters. Just drop it.”
“I can’t drop it. I’ve heard of this kind of thing before and so has Terry. We were at a seminar last summer—”
“A goat seminar?” Sadie said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“A paranormal workshop that also dealt with satanic cults and rituals.” She shook her head from side to side. “This goat thing creeps me out.”
“Is it barnyard animals in general or goats specifically that you have a problem with?”
“Not funny. The woman who gave the session on satanic cults told us about all kinds of crazy rituals by some wack jobs in her area.”
“Which area?”
“She was from Dallas.”
“We’re not in Dallas.”
“So what? Freaks can travel. It’s not like Texas has the market cornered on goats. Anyway, she talked about a cult who performs rituals involving goats and babies.”
Sadie put down her martini glass and gave Maeva her full attention.
“Goats and babies,” Sadie parroted. Then she relented. “Okay. You’ve got my attention.”
“Good. It was a type of baptism ritual welcoming newborns into a life to be raised worshipping the dark forces.”
“The babies . . .” Sadie swallowed thickly. “Did they die?”
“No. That’s why there’s been no media attention on this. She’d talked with people who’d left the cult and they described the ritual. The followers put the babies inside the body cavity of a goat only long enough for a few chants. Then maybe the Satanist sickos will have a round of blood to drink. After that, the baby is symbolically delivered from the goat and is said to be reborn from Satan.”
“Ewww. That is the sickest and most revolting thing I’ve ever heard and as someone who mops up grossness for a living, that’s saying a lot. Why the hell would they do something so stupid?”
“The followers believe the babies are given extra powers and that as they grow inside the cult, they’ll share those powers with the group.” She sipped her drink. “You know the goat has long been a symbol of Satan. If we’re talking about the same kind of thing here, then you and Zack interrupted the ritual and took off with their prize.”
Sadie closed her eyes against the vision of the woman with the evil eyes and whose ghostly touch was like liquid fire.
“She told me that she gave her son willingly.”
“Who?” Maeva asked.
“The baby’s mother. They found her body in the field and someone had cut the baby right out of her. Weird thing was, she seemed okay with the whole thing.” Sadie looked at Maeva. “I figured she was either in shock or stoned out of her mind on meth.”
“But she was dead?”
“Yeah and there was something major wrong with her.”
“Well, yeah, if she was perfectly okay with someone killing her to take her baby and stuff him next to a dead goat, she’s got something missing up here.” Maeva tapped her head.
“There’s something else. Her eyes.” Sadie shook her head slowly. “They turned really red.”
“You’re sensitive to evil just like most of our kind. Her eyes appeared red to you because your senses told you her soul was lost.”
“What do you mean, lost?”
“It means you won’t be able to help her go over. She’s committed herself to evil. The people you’ve helped go over have gone toward light. She walks in darkness.”
Sadie shuddered.
“She was blocking the entrance to the shed. I had to get out of there, so I picked up the baby and just walked straight through her.”
“And when you touched her?” Maeva asked, focusing intently on Sadie.
“It was like being burned alive. I thought my skin was on fire. Zack pulled me out and if he hadn’t . . .” Sadie’s stomach roiled with nausea. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if he wasn’t there. He said it looked like I was having a seizure.”
Maeva’s face grew deadly serious.
“Listen to me.” Maeva leaned forward. “This is scary shit. Don’t get mixed up in it. Dark forces can drain you of your energy. Or worse.”
Sadie put her hands in the air. “You don’t have to tell me to stay away. I’m done with that place. Besides, the cops have taken over the scene now.”
“That’s good. Real good.” Maeva sat back. “Only thing is, whoever was running that show, well, he considers that baby his own. You stole from him. There’s a good chance he’s mighty pissed at you.”
“Stop trying to scare me.”
“Fear can make you careful. You need to be very, very careful.”