dizziness and nausea passed.
“Do you…” he hesitated. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“I don’t know,” Maria admitted. “I mean, it’s not every day that you hear…whatever that was.”
“Oh, God—or Allah, as you think of Him—speaks to us every day. We just don’t listen.”
“But not like this.”
“No,” Levi agreed. “Not like this. Not in a long time. These days, there are no burning bushes or voices from the mountaintop.”
Maria breathed a heavy sigh. “Part of me still thinks it was a trick. Maybe you got to my recorder earlier or something—except I know that’s not true.”
“I promise you that I did nothing of the sort.”
“And part of me believes it really happened. That G…” She paused. “That
“I can’t sway your belief one way or the other, Maria. All I ask is that you believe what I’ve told you. For anything other than that, you’ll have to look to your own heart.”
“Listen, I’m sorry about my behavior earlier. I don’t think you’re some psycho killer or Amish rapist or anything like that. At least, not anymore. And yes, some things have happened that I can’t explain. But I just don’t know what to think yet. I’m overwhelmed and exhausted. I got no sleep last night. I was already in a bad mood and then all this…this
“Fair enough.”
“But I do want to help you. I just don’t know what you need from me.”
“Simply having you involved is enough. Certain numbers have power. Six and seven. Nine. Twelve and thirteen. Twenty-two. Six hundred and sixty-seven, the number of the Beast.”
“I thought it was six-six-six?”
“No, that was another thing scholars got wrong.”
“Lost in translation, huh?”
“Something like that. But there
“How is three a lucky number? There weren’t three disciples.”
“No, but there were three Stooges. No cosmic evil could stand against Moe, Larry and the original Curly.”
It took Maria a moment to realize that he was joking. They both chuckled.
“You, me, and Adam Senft make three,” Levi said. “Those are good odds.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Thank you for helping me, Maria.”
She returned the gesture and then he released her hand.
“But let’s be honest,” Maria said. “Helping you is helping myself. We both want to talk to Adam Senft and neither of us has time to go through the official channels. So my reason for helping you make that happen isn’t exactly charitable.”
“Nevertheless, it is still appreciated.”
At the front of the buggy, Dee whinnied.
Levi smiled. “And Dee appreciates it, too.”
“She’s a beautiful horse. Have you had her long?”
“Since she was a foal. She comes from an old line. Her family has aided my family for a very long time. She’s my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Dee snorted and then looked away. Her tail flicked back and forth in agitation.
“And she never lets me forget it,” Levi said.
“I always wanted a horse when I was a little girl.”
“Your parents wouldn’t buy you one?”
“We lived in the Jersey suburbs. There was nowhere to keep one.”
“I can’t imagine growing up like that, with no livestock or wide-open fields to play in.”
“Yeah. It’s definitely two different worlds. Do you have any other animals?”
He nodded. “An old hound dog named Crowley.”
“Crowley and Dee—odd names. How did you come up with them?”
He hesitated before answering. “I named them after Aleister Crowley and John Dee.”
“Oh.” Maria nodded in affirmation, but privately, she wondered who they were. She vaguely recognized the
