Book of Days: A Novel (48 page)

And unfathomable love. He felt it. He was immersed in it . . . He opened his mouth and drank in this Presence . . . now inside him, filling him, overflowing . . . A Being so magnificent he would follow Him anywhere.

A moment later everything vanished.

The weight.

The light.

The Presence.

Cameron sat in the aftermath for what might have been minutes, or might have been hours. All he wanted was for the light to return.

Taylor sat cross-legged, looking like he'd been caught up in an F5 tornado and loved every moment of it.

"What was that?" Cameron said.

"This is a holy place."

"I felt Him." He frowned at Taylor, then smiled. "I felt God. He was . . . in me."

"Yes."

Cameron shuddered. "I . . . I don't know how to explain it."

"You don't have to."

"He's real." Cameron covered his face with his hands and blew out a long breath. "He's found me."

Taylor yanked Cameron into his chest. "Welcome to life."

After their embrace Cameron glanced around the lake, still swimming in the intensity of the moment. "Did this happen last time you were here?"

"It was different, but also the same. I'm not sure I can explain it. And it lasted much longer last time. And didn't vanish so suddenly." Taylor frowned, then smiled. "But that's okay. I'm not sure I could have taken much more anyway."

A moment later his smile vanished and his face hardened into flint as he stared over Cameron's shoulder. "We have a problem."

A voice rang out from behind Cameron along with the cocking of a gun. "Yes, you do." Laughter. "I would say you most certainly do."

Cameron spun as the figure above them twirled a knife around the fingers of his left hand and held a gun in his right as he tramped down the slope toward Cameron and Taylor.

"You're going to teach me all about the Book of Days, Stone. Then you and Mr. Vaux will unfortunately need to die."

It was Kirk Gillum.

CHAPTER 46

Kirk Gillum gazed around the valley and grinned before focusing on Cameron and Taylor. "I appreciate you two. Truly." He winked at them.

Cameron glanced at Taylor. If he was surprised at Kirk's appearance, it didn't show. Where was Jason?

"First, thank you for validating the belief I've had in a real book all these years. Not even Jason believed me till you came along, young Cameron. And second, thank you for leading me right to it; although I admit it took me a while to follow your tracks through that last part." He bowed and laughed.

"The book is the lake, right?" Kirk scratched the underside of his chin with the barrel of his Glock. "It makes sense. While I always thought a genuine book existed, I never thought it would be literal paper and ink. That's much too prosaic for God, don't you think?" He raised both eyebrows and jutted his head back and forth, as if to taunt them with the question.

"Give the idea even the slightest consideration and you realize it would have to be an immensely large book to contain the story of all the lives that have lived and are still to live, hmm? And when Jason gave me the full report on the adventure in your basement, well, that seemed awfully convenient to me."

Kirk had been speaking in a singsong voice, as if talking to children, but suddenly he leveled the gun at Taylor's head and spoke in a monotone. "Okay, playtime is over. I'm ready to dance. Back away, Stone. I'd like to take a good long look at the future."

Kirk stepped up to the edge of the lake's shimmering surface and glared at Cameron. "We could have shared this, you know. Jason never lied to you like Stone did. He even offered you friendship. Truly, I did originally consider sharing it with you, but you've clearly sided with Stone, so now the book will be mine alone."

"Yours alone?" Cameron said.

"You thought I would share this with Jason? Really?" Kirk laughed and wagged his finger. "No, no, no. He wanted the book for the wrong reasons. Besides, toward the end of this little jaunt, he got downright pushy with his opinions and that was unacceptable. In any case, it would be impossible to share the book with him at this point since he's no longer with us. So sad. But I do appreciate the work he did for me. I don't think I've ever seen someone play the front man with more passion."

Cameron's stomach lurched. Gillum was insane.

Kirk kept the gun pointed in Taylor's direction as he gazed into the pool, expectant rapture on his face. The silence of the valley pressed in, the only noise was his steel-toed boots shuffling over the shale surrounding the pool as he sidestepped along its edge.

"How do I read it? What should I be seeing?"

"It was never real in a literal sense, Kirk."

"Nice try, Stone. Tell me how I get it to work." He pointed the gun at Taylor's head again.

Taylor walked toward Kirk.

"Stop!"

Taylor opened his hands. "The few who find this place do hear from God, but only when they slow down long enough to listen. He is alive and this"—Taylor motioned to the mountains surrounding him—"testifies to His glory and the magnificence of His creation. But there is no magic in the pool, no special chant that will tell you your past or present or specific details about the future unless you are willing to—"

"As you've probably figured out by now, I'm willing to do anything."

"No, Kirk, you're not. You must choose—"

"Shut up!" A shot whizzed by Taylor's head a foot to the right and splintered a tree behind him. "Tell me how it works!"

"You're not here to kill me."

"Really?"

"All right, if you are, then shoot me." Taylor took another step toward Kirk.

"What?"

"If it's truly what you want, shoot me." Taylor put his arms out to the side. "Go on."

Rage, sorrow, and fear passed over Kirk's sweaty face, all three emotions blazing out of his eyes in seconds. Then only rage remained. "You're ready to eat a bullet?"

"Yes."

Kirk's trigger finger shook.

"He's lost it, Taylor," Cameron said. "Don't make him snap."

Kirk snorted. "You're next, Cameron." He waved the gun back and forth between Cameron and Taylor, his finger still twitching. "Tell me what I need to do and we can all live happily ever after."

"You can put the gun away. And both Cameron and I will forget you ever came here."

"I'm finished with your games, Stone." Kirk's gun exploded with another shot, this time the bullet streaked by Taylor's head by no more than six inches. "Will you start talking, or do you want to see how close I can get to your head with each progressive shot?"

"There's nothing here for you to see."

Kirk turned and walked back toward the pool, glancing over his shoulder at Cameron and Taylor every few feet. He stared at the water as his eyes grew cold. When he finally turned back to them, the blood had drained from his face.

"Not acceptable. This doesn't make sense. This can't be all there is. The book has to be real." He bent down and touched the lake, then stood and flicked his fingers, drops of water arcing against the sun.

"I'm going to count to one. After that I will shoot you in the leg. If that doesn't convince you to talk, I'll shoot you in the arm, then the stomach. If that doesn't scare the cat into letting go of your tongue, I will start shooting Cameron." He grinned and spun toward Cameron. "In fact, maybe I should start with your new young friend."

Kirk turned the Glock on Cameron and moved his finger over the trigger.

The sensation of floating surged through Cameron and his mouth opened. He gave a tiny shake of his head and whispered, "Not yet."

As he glanced from Kirk's trigger finger to his face to the barrel of the Glock, time slowed.

It's not time. I'm not ready to die, Jessie.

An instant later something large smashed into Kirk from the side knocking him to the ground. A blur of clothes. A man, now on top, blocking a punch, driving his knee hard into Gillum's throat, and in the same fluid motion grabbing the gun out of his hand. The man bounced to his feet and took three rapid steps backward, the weapon trained on the mayor's head.

Dark hair, wiry build—it was Grange.

The Native American turned to Taylor, breathing hard. "Gillum has talent. He lost me for a time and his tracks were difficult to follow."

"My friend." Taylor grasped Grange's forearms as Grange clasped Taylor's. "Thank you."

"Of course."

Kirk lay moaning, holding his neck with one hand, his ribs with the other. Cameron guessed at least a few of them were broken.

Grange held the Glock with both hands and said to Kirk, "Get up. We have a long hike ahead of us." He looked over his shoulder at Taylor. "I will explain to him in detail the way things must be."

Taylor nodded and they watched Kirk stumble up and out of the valley, Grange following, the gun steady in his hand.

Cameron stared at Taylor. "What is that little smirk on your face for?"

"It's not a smirk. It's a smile."

"Why?"

"Forgiveness." Taylor eased over to a boulder and sat. "For Kirk."

"Are you kidding? You're okay with what he just did to you?"

"I'm letting it go."

"What if he tries to come after—?"

"He won't. Grange will keep an eye on him. And once they trace Jason's murder to Kirk, the mayor's schedule will be full for a very long time."

Forgiveness.

Cameron stared at the craggy top of the highest peak surrounding the lake, locked his hands behind his neck, and paced back and forth.

Could he do it? Right here, right now? Could he forgive Taylor for telling him the book was real and bringing him here only to shatter his hopes? He'd believed. Taylor had convinced him the Book of Days existed.

But he'd felt God. He was real. Maybe it was enough.

"So the book is a place of beauty and solitude." Cameron spoke it more to himself than Taylor. "And a place of holiness. A place of God's presence. But not a place of memories and not a place where the future can be seen."

Taylor gazed at Cameron the way his dad used to. With joy, pride, and love shooting out of his eyes like lightning. "You are a good man, Cameron. We will talk about the book in a bit. But first the lake and I need to do some business."

CHAPTER 47

Taylor walked to within a few paces of the water and squatted. A moment later tears fell from his cheek and dropped onto the dirt at his feet.

"Do you want to be alone for this?"

"No. I'd like you to be here." He motioned Cameron to join him and waited till they crouched together on the edge of the pond.

Taylor reached into his pocket and pulled out an oblong object wrapped in a powder blue handkerchief. He motioned to it. "One of Annie's handkerchiefs from when she was a little girl." He unwrapped the object slowly, as if to lend some anticipation to what was inside. But Cameron already knew.

Taylor twirled the window crank around his fingers to catch the reflection of the sun, but he closed his eyes as the sunlight flashed off it, flared against his face. He let it settle into his palm. He sighed, and without opening his eyes brought the handle to his lips and kissed it.