“Hi Dad, I’m glad I caught you. I know everything that’s gone on the last couple weeks has you and mom in near hysterics, but I wanted to call and warn you I’m about to do it again.” There was a short pause and her tone was jovial when she continued, “Max and I are going to the West Coast.” Another pause and her answer, “I don’t know, it might be a vacation or it might be longer. So much has happened that we really just need to get out of here for a while. I don’t want you and Mom to worry about me. You’ve got my cell. Call whenever you want.” They talked for a few more minutes, but nothing more profound than Lauren promising to call them every night. I made a mental note to myself that no matter what, I would make sure she kept that promise.
Lauren turned her attention to me, “Max, pack whatever you want to take with you. We may not wait until tomorrow.” I was surprised to see such authority in her voice, but I agreed that waiting around longer than was necessary could only invite more potential problems. As far as I was concerned, five more minutes here with all of those people in the yard was longer than was necessary.
I grabbed clothes absently from my drawers and closet, a few family photos off the wall and my shaving bag from the bathroom. In five minutes time I was ready. I made some calls to make sure the farm was taken care of and decided to call Randy to let him know I wouldn’t be making my shift tonight.
He answered right away. I had selfishly been hoping to get his voice mail. “Randy, it’s Max. I hate to do this to you, but I’m going to take a vacation again.” This has to be some sort of record, a whopping two days back on the job and I’m leaving again.
Randy responded in an understanding voice, “I thought you might. Dakota mentioned she was going to talk to Lauren about that cult that has been trying to recruit her.”
My stomach tightened as if Randy had just poked me through the phone. It took a second to process what he had just said. “Dakota? You know Dakota?”
“Sure, she’s my new wife. That’s right, you never met her! She and I married about six months ago. I met her shortly after you took your leave of absence. She’s been real worried about Lauren, and today she told me enough was enough, she was going to go intervene on Lauren’s behalf.”
Grasping for words, I had trouble forming a sentence, “A cult? You mean the…the group that…the people that Lauren has been hanging around with, you called them a cult?”
Randy sounded a little embarrassed, “That might be a strong word, but they are bad news. Dakota has known that group for years. She doesn’t trust them, not at all. I know it isn’t any of my business, but Lauren is such a nice young girl, I’d hate to see her get wrapped up with a bunch of lunatics. Dakota didn’t realize I knew you and Lauren, it only came up the other night when I mentioned that you were working again.”
“Huh… I didn’t realize Lauren knew your wife?” I hated that paranoid feeling that I got when things seemed to fit together too smoothly.
Randy was oblivious to my anxiety, “My wife was one of the nurses that took care of Lauren while she was…you know. I don’t know if she and Lauren are lifelong friends or anything, but she took care of her for over a year and feels a kind of kinship with her.”
“Alright, well I think we’re going to be leaving soon, but I wanted you to know right away.” He thanked me for calling him and wished me good luck. He told me I’d always have a job waiting when I was ready for it. I liked Randy from the very first moment I met him. Finding out that his wife was one of Lauren’s nurses was an amazing coincidence. And whoever she was, Rewsna did not seem very pleased to see her.
Chapter 35
By noon Lauren and I were packed and were ready to go. No one had entered my house since Dakota and Rewsna had stepped off the porch. I absently watched a few cars leave, a few arrive, and could see people milling about the yard. I was tired, after working all night, but then believing I was close to death this morning didn’t do anything but kick my adrenalin into high gear. Now that the immediate danger seemed to be delayed, I could feel my body slowing down. The standoff in the yard seemed almost not to involve us at all, but I knew better.
I was pleased that Samael still wasn’t communicating with me, laying low I guess. It struck me that Lauren hadn’t said much after Rewsna left. I had a weird feeling that she might be doubting our plan to go west. Who could blame her? From our first minutes together we never had a normal relationship. These past weeks had been something beyond my worst nightmares. For a quick minute, I had almost believed we had a shot at escaping with our lives; maybe even a chance at the normal everyday life together, with regular jobs – no demons, no angels or any other kind of creature to stop us.
I finally sat on the couch and made a motion for Lauren to sit beside me. She did. She leaned her head on my shoulder and took my hand. I could feel that same electric pulse vibrating through me. We
