Page 10 of Reckoning

“It might be wise to think about how you got here, and if you run out of excuses for your behavior…say a prayer for Lilith Bandy not to have a setback. She’s not even close to being healed. There are all kinds of delayed or unseen problems from head injuries.”

Moments later, Rocky Morris was gone, and the guard took Mariah back to her cell. The click of the lock turning behind her felt like a bullet to the heart. She wanted a do-over on this day. Instead, she threw herself down onto the bunk and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

While Rocky Morris was dealing with Mariah Lowe’s incarceration, Pliney Watts, the local police chief, had his men glove up and go looking for a stray gray cat that may or may not have rabies. After a couple of hours of combing the yards and shrubbery around the area, a skinny gray cat with a bad case of mange staggered out from under the bushes where they were standing.

One officer immediately dropped a netting over the cat. It began hissing and spitting as they carefully gathered it up and dropped it into an animal carrier before heading to the local vet.

The vet, who’d been warned ahead of their arrival, eyed the mangy old cat with a measure of sympathy, both for its condition and the test the police asked for.

“Is there a reason for a rabies test? Has the cat bitten someone?” he asked.

“We don’t know anything about that. The doctor requested it. The chief gave us the order. We’re certain this is the cat. It was in the reported area, and we didn’t see any other stray animals anywhere, and I’m certain it’s a stray, or it wouldn’t be in this shape.”

The vet nodded. “Understood. I’ll run an LN34 test. It’s a rapid results test for rabies. I’ll call the police station when I have an answer for him.”

The vet was unaware that all of this was happening because of a child’s warning to a friend. The only adult worried about the results was Doctor Joe, who’d erred on the side of caution by believing the boy and considered the risk was in the public’s well-being. But by the morning of the next day, Doctor Joe was both shocked that the child had been right and relieved he had not made a foolish call. What might have ended with terrible results for the townspeople had been stopped before anyone in Star Ridge was harmed. The news triggered locals to rush their pets to the local vet for updated shots.

* * *

Abel was at the garage changing oil in a customer’s car when a pale-green Chrysler rolled up at the pumps. He paid no attention to the driver who got out until he heard footsteps behind him and turned. His eyes narrowed, surprised that the yellow-haired, skinny-necked weasel with a clerical collar walking his way had the gall to face him. As the man approached, Abel came out from beneath the lift, still clutching the wrench in his hand.

“Abel Bandy. We have been missing you and your family at Sunday service.”

“Morning, Pastor Wells. Is there something you need?”

Wells frowned. “Just a little fuel.”

“Then I’ll let you get on with it,” Abel said.

Wells had come to reclaim a parishioner and shifted the timbre of his voice into sermon mode. “The Good Lord’s word heals our souls!”

That’s when Abel lost it. “Interesting…because the words that came out of your mouth about me and my family didn’t heal shit. You turned them into some wild-ass version of a bad B movie…insinuating evil about my wife and son. Your words nearly got her killed and led one woman on the path of crime and injustice. Your words are a slur against humanity. Every God-given gift my son has came through MY bloodline. Not my wife’s consort with some so-called devil. You’re who’s evil, hiding behind a lie and a Bible you do not deserve to hold. Tate is the sixth generation in my family to be born with the knowing.”

The shock on Wells’s face had gone from angry red to stark white. “How dare—”

Abel lowered his voice to a whisper. “No, you little bastard, how dare you? We don’t claim to see spirits. We don’t claim to communicate with angels. Nobody’s out in the woods stirring up some damn potion. ‘The knowing’ is a vision. Nothing more. Nothing less. They can’t call it up. It comes to them. My wife is the dearest woman on earth. She is a good and loving wife and mother. And you nearly got her killed. If I find out that you have even uttered our names again, or you run crying to your congregation about this conversation we’ve just had, you’re the one who will be praying for mercy. Now go get your damn gas and get out of my face.”

At a complete loss for how to respond, Wells pivoted and strode back to the pumps in short, jerky strides.

Abel waited until he was gone, then went back to work as if nothing had happened.

No one knew what happened. No one even witnessed their conversation. But within a month, Pastor Wells had put in a request to be transferred, and then he was gone. A new pastor was assigned to that location and stepped up to oversee the rebuilding of what the tornado had destroyed.

* * *

Plagued by headaches and some mild confusion with her memory, Lilith healed slowly and made weekly visits back to Doctor Joe until he was satisfied that all danger had passed.

During that time, Mariah was arraigned and bonded out of jail. A date for her hearing was set, but her release day was cloaked with shame. When she realized Briar had come with Roger to pick her up, she all but hissed her displeasure when she saw her sitting in the car.

“Why did you bring her?” Mariah asked.

“What would you have had me do? Walk off and leave her alone in the house like you left her at the park? She’s our child to care for.”

“Well, where has she been while you were at work?” Mariah asked.

He glared. “I haven’t gone back to work yet. Thanks to you, Briar and I are being judged by your actions. I expect you to apologize to her and mean it. She already knows you wish she’d been born a boy, so you’ve lost all the shine she once had for you as her mother.”