The Mormon Candidate - a Novel (43 page)

There was no response from the
dark face
shield.

“
I’ll send you a text message with instructions.
”
Porter rolled up the window.

The
Ducati
motor came to life, and the
Ghost
eased
away with the lights still off
. Once on the
main road, the Ducati raced away.

Part
V
:

The Apostates

Chapter 47

After a night of deep sleep, Ben w
oke
up stiff and achy. The last three days had not been kind to his body, and the old shoulder injury was acting up again. He
lingered in bed until late in the morning. When he
came out of the tiny bedroom, there was no one in the house. Stepping outside, he
noticed a mark on the doorjam
b
, about two
-
thirds of the way up from the floor with a little hole at each end.
It looked like the discoloration
left
after removal of a
mezuzah
—
the
traditional Jewish ornament in the form of a tube containing a scribed scroll and attached to the doorjam
b
with two nails. Someone must have removed it recently, just like the family photos inside the house, leaving an off-color shadow in its stead.

Rex was tinkering with the Ducati. “How are you doing?”

“As
good as
could be expected.” Ben approached the GS, which had been unloaded from the Suburban and parked under a tree. It seemed no worse than it had already been thanks to the Ghost and the deer. He started the motor, listen
ed
to its sound, and checked for leaks, finding none. The tires seemed to hold pressure, and all the lights were working. “What’s the best way
out
of here?
”

“Do you
really
want to
leave
?”

“I want to find the floppy disk
and confront Morgan
.”

A car engine sounded, and the Suburban appeared down the dirt road. Streep was driving, with Powell in the passenger seat and Dreyfuss in the back. They
got
out carrying grocery bags.

Rex took the bag from Powell. “Our guest wants to
continue
Zachariah’s treasure hunt.
Should
we
help
him?
”

“
Sure
,” Powell said.

Ben followed them back inside.
“First you try to kill me, and now you want to help me?”

“Things changed.” Streep carried a log to the fireplace
.
“We thought you
we
re working with them.”

“Working? On what?”

“
On removing all barriers from
Joe Morgan
’s path to the White House, including exposure of
his
role in various
unsavory practices of the Mormon Church. They’ll do whatever it takes to help him win.”

“Why?”

“Are you an imbecile?” Streep shoved a burning piece of paper under the log. “The
s
aints believe it is the destiny of the True Church to take over the whole world, which is why they have a hundred thousand missionaries roving the globe continuously. But putting a devout Mormon in the White House? A Mormon as
C
ommander in
C
hief? A Mormon as
the
leader of the free world? In a single strike they’ll become mainstream. Legitimate
!
Respectable
!
Do you think China w
ill
continue to ban Mormon missio
naries when President Joe Morgan
occupies the Oval Office?”

“Probably not.”

“That’s right! His election would put Mormon conversions on steroids!
”

“There’s a downside too,” Ben said. “
It would
put Mormonism under everybody’s magnifying gl
ass. They must be worried about this, considering how Mormon history is filled with stories of persecution and suffering.
”

“I grew up on th
ese stories
,” Streep said
,
“of
bloody
Gentile attacks on
our
innocent
ancestors
in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois—
culminating with t
he lynching of our
p
rophet. It’s only after I left
the Church
that I started reading the banned books and discovered the
real complexity of
our history.
”

“Which is?”

“
It’s true that most Mormons were hardworking farmers who
did nothing to stir the
anti-Mormon hostilities
that
almost
destroyed them
. B
ut as a
group
,
we
were
hardly blameless.
Joseph Smith
was blessed with
incredible intelligence, creativity, and charisma
, but he used these gifts not only for good.
”

“I have to agree with that,” Dreyfuss said. “It wasn’t just his religious activities. There were other new churches and Christian sects popping up in America at that time
, and nobody bothered them
. But
Smith’s
m
essianic theology
transformed into a
theocracy. His
control over the
s
aints as a voting block,
his claims that
God
anointed him
to be king over
the county, the state, the nation, and eventually the world,
scared
non-Mormon politicians
and
citizens
. H
is
failed
business ventures
cost many
investors
their life
savings
. H
is
plural marriages,
which he
claimed
were
divinely
inspired,
triggered
revulsion and animosity
. Put together, all those things instigated armed attacks on Mormons, who formed militias and fought back, and many innocent people died.
”

“Hey there,” Powell yelled from the kitchen, “
breakfast
is ready.”

Rex glanced at his watch. “More like lunch, judging by the time.
I
have
to go. See you all tonight.
”

“Good luck,” Dreyfuss said.

Keera
arrived
late, which meant
she had to park
all the way at the end.
A thin
, cold drizzle accompanied her
across the parking
lot
and the circular driveway in front of the hospital. It fit her mood. Waking up on Fran’s sofa, having none of the usual comforts of home, missing most of her favorite toiletries, and not being able to kiss Ben before heading out
together made for a miserable morning
. How long before he return
ed
? Tomorrow was Friday, and then
the weekend. There was no way she would spend a
whole
nail-biting
weekend
on
Fran’s
sofa
.

“Good morning!” The gray-haired security guard waved at Keera from behind the reception desk. “How are we doing today, Doctor?”

“Sam!” She shook her finger at him, but still, being greeted with the same joke again and again had its own charm. Clearly the elderly African American guard was proud of her success. “
Five more months
,” she said
.
“
Don’t
jinx me!”

“H
aven’t so far,
have I
?”

“No,” she said, though inside her, dread was rising that life was taking a dangerous, downward slide. “See you later!”

“Go save them,” he yelled, like always, while she ran to catch the elevator.

Streep filled a plate with eggs and potatoes and placed it before Ben.
“Now you understand why they’ll do an
ything to get Morgan elected
p
resident of the United States.”

“They?” Ben stretched his arms sideways and up, twisting his face in pain. “Who exactly are they?”

Dreyfuss
sat down with his own loaded plate.
“Have you heard about the Danites?”

“Let me guess,” Ben said. “The
Danites are
a secret group of Joe Morgan
’s
supporters who don’t shy away from violence to ensure his election
. K
ind of like Watergate
, r
ight?”

“
A worse kind
.
” Dreyfuss
dug into his eggs with a fork.
“We’re not talking about Nixon’s
clumsy plumbers
breaking into the
Democratic Party’s headquarters
.
T
he Danites are
history’s most deadly
political hit
men.”

“Never heard of them.”

“Because the Mormon Church
,” Dreyfuss said, “
is the most effective suppressor of its own history.
”

“Thanks for cooking,” Ben said to Powell. “It’s good.”

“You’re welcome.” Powell sat down, a mug of coffee between his large hands. “T
he Danites were named
by Smith
for the Israelite Dan,
son of Jacob by Bilha, the maid of his
beloved
wife Rachel.
I
n Genesis, when Jacob
’s
sons
c
a
me to
his
death
bed
to receive
his last blessings, he
said
:
‘Dan shall judge
the nation
;
Dan sh
all be a snake on the road, an a
dder upon travelers, who strikes the horse’s hooves,
felling
its rider.’
Do you
understand?”

“Dan will be both judge and executioner.”

“Exactly!
” Powell raised his mug in a toast. “A big
role for
the smallest tribe of Israe
l
!”

“
That reminds me of something.
” Ben
reached into his backpack and
took out the
Canon
. “The day Zachariah died, the Ducati
ambushed
him near the Camp David
Scenic Overlook
. I took some photos of the path where I think
the Ghost
waited
.” He
browsed through the archive of photos on the rear panel of the camera. “Here it is.” He
showed them the photo of the depression left in the weeds by the
kick
stand
. “It’s a custom piece with a design welded to the bottom of the plate. I thought it was just a cute stylish twist, meant to add traction to the
kick
stand
.”

“It’s a snake,” Dreyfuss said. “The
Danites
’ symbol
. And waiting in ambush is also predestined, as
Moses is quoted
in the last
chapter
of
the five books of Moses
, g
iving
each
tribe
a
last blessing before h
e
die
d
at the border of the Promised Land
. He
said that Dan
‘
shall strike out of the Bashan
.’
Joseph Smith
loved to borrow and twist
biblical symbol
s to
inspire
obedience.”