'Til Death Do Us Part (53 page)

“
So you
’
re more like Glinda the Good W
itch?
”
John asked.

“
Glinda wasn
’
t so good,
”
I said off-handedly.
“
I
’
m just saying, she was happy when
Dorothy killed the other witch.
She
basically told Dorothy to take property that wasn
’
t hers an
d
then sent her off on a mission to kill another witch that she was enemies with. If she was such a good witch why didn
’
t she do it herself?
”

John and Azile were not giving me flattering looks.

“
That
’
s merely my take,
”
I said
,
trying my best to extradite myself from my comment.

“
Since my mother
’
s murder,
”
Azile continued,
“
m
y life has been devoted to stopping Eliza.
”

I nodded in agreement.
“
What happened?
”

“
How did I become locked in that truck you mean?
”

“
That
’
s as good a thing to explain as any.
”

“
I
’
ve been searching for Eliza for thirteen years now. Always practicing my art, always getting stronger when that ultimate day would come and I could
exact
my revenge.
”

I looked at her questioningly.

“
Yeah
,
it didn
’
t work out quite as well as I
’
d hoped. I got my CDL a couple of years ago because it would give me a chance t
o drive around the country.
I could sense her presence, almost like a whiff of ghost perfume in a haunted house. The stink of her was all over that truck stop.
”

“
So you had joined up in the hopes of getting a glimpse?
”
I asked.

“
Oh
,
it was more than hoping for a glimpse. I had a sacrificial knife, supposedly belonged to a
n
Ute Sh
aman. She came to see how Kong—
what kind of fucking name is that?
”
she asked as an aside,
“
w
as doing. She had a small circle of drivers around her
,
and I circled around so I was coming up behind her. I had that blade out and was going to drive it between her shoulder blades.
”

“
I don
’
t think that would have worked.
”

“
Maybe, maybe not
,
but it would have made me feel better.
”

“
I
’
m with you on that. I
think your knife is back there,
”
I said
,
pointing to the back of the truck.

“
Are you sure?
”
s
he said
,
her eyes getting big.

“
Beside the stone
s
—
which we
’
ll get to—
there was something wrapped up in leather roughly the size of a butcher knife.
”

“
And you didn
’
t think to tell me?
”
s
he asked hotly.

“
Umm
, let me think…
ultimate weapon of destruction
,
or a small item wrapped in dirty leather. Wow
,
how could I have been so stupid?
”

Azile was already running into the back of the truck.
“
That
’
s it!
”
s
he yelled excitedly. She unwrapped it quickly and held i
t up.
I wouldn
’
t have been overly surprised if bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens. I even took a quick glance skyward to see if there were any threatening clouds.

“
So how
’
d you go fr
om would be assassin to captive?
”

“
Bitch knew I was there all
along.
Apparently
we share a connection because of the bite.
”

John pulled out a medium-
sized
,
folded up piece of tin foil and feverishly began to fashion it into a hat.

“
What is he doing?
”
s
he asked me when John tried to put it on her head.

“
Save us all, you
’
ll understand once it
’
s on.
”

“
I really don
’
t want to belong to the
lithium league,
”
s
he said as she fended John off.

“
Try it for a second.
”

She allowed Jo
hn to place the hat on her head.
Instantly,
her expression changed from
disbelief to bewilderment to relief. She quickly removed it
,
then placed it back on.
“
How?
”

“
No clue. John could probably tell you.
”

He shrugged his shoulders.
“
Beats me, saw it on a television show once when I was a kid.
”

“
I gues
s I should have figured as much,
”
I said aloud.

“
For some reason
,
she didn
’
t kill me.
She
took the stones out of my trailer and had Kong put them in Horatio
’
s truck
,
then Kong made Horatio handcuff me to his bedrail.
”

I was staring at her.

“
No, no
,
he was actually fairly decent as far as murdering thugs go. Never onc
e tried to have his way with me, apparently
even scum have certain platitudes they won
’
t stoop below. But who knows, some of them were getting a little antsy
.
I
’
m sure if given the
chance a few of them would have.
Luckily
I
’
d only been there a couple of days before you came along.
”

“
I haven
’
t figured all this shit out…not by a long shot.
But
there
’
s something more going on here. There was a half dozen different ways we could have left this morning and why I felt so compelled to check out that truck stop I
’
m still not sure.
T
hen Horatio needing to take a piss just then. I find his truck and you. People win the lottery with smaller odds.
”

“
You should play the lottery,
”
John said.
“
If you
r
luck is that good
,
you
’
re bound to win something.
”

“
Well let
’
s hold on to that and hope it extends to finding your wife.
”

“
Azile is married to a woman
? How very progressive,
”
John said.

“
Your wife
,
John.
”

“
Oh, well then let
’
s get going,
”
h
e said.
“
Where is she again?
”

Eliza and Tomas

Eliza and Tomas walked among the gravestones of the long interred residents of the Rue Morgue
,
as calm in their surroundings as new parents would be in their infant
’
s bedroom. Eliza strode with a purpose, Tomas kept up if only to try and keep her from her own insanity.

“
There it is,
”
Eliza said with an edge of excitement as she gazed upon the mortuary doorway.

“
Abaddon?
”
Tomas asked
,
looking at the name engraved at the top of the tomb.

“
It means
‘
The Destroyer
’
,
”
Eliza said as she pulled the rusted gate open.

“
The evilness of this pla
ce
surpasses even you
,
Eliza. I beg of you one last time, let us be gone from this place.
”

“
It does have a certain charm doesn
’
t it?
”
s
he asked as a large cobweb bathed her face and head much like a wedding veil.

Eliza took the candles
from
T
omas. S
he placed them in the form of a pentagram. Latin verse flowed from her mouth as she began her incantations. She stopped long enough to open one eye.
“
You may w
ant to be in the center with me,
”
s
he told her brother. He reluctantly got in the circle.
“
Do not step out of here, no matter what the
Deceiver
says. Do you understand me
,
Tomas?
”
Eliza asked.

Tomas nodded his head.
He
had been close to God once and did not want to taint that experience with what he was about to bear witness to.

“
Tomas
,
ans
wer me.
I am about to complete my invocation.
”

Tomas nodded numbly.

“
Good,
”
Eliza said as she started back up.

The air got heavy with the smell of burnt cordite and sulfur. The room took on a dull reddish glow
as the walls themselves seemed to burn with the light.

“
Eliza my pet
,
why do you call me forward?
”
a
voice borne along the vocal chords of a thousand snakes issued forth.

“
I have never been your pet.
”

The snake hissed in laughter.
“
You are evil borne from evil, you have
always
been my pet.
”

“
I seek ad
vice,
”
Eliza said, changing the subject from something she did not want to hear.