Part 25 (1/2)
”You betcha,” Maeva agreed with a laugh.
Once she was alone in her room, Sadie stared at the ceiling and debated the outcome of the rest of her life, or at least the next few months. She had enough savings to help her pay bills for a number of weeks, if business didn't pick up. After that, she'd have to consider selling her house and moving into an apartment. Or going back to teaching primary school. Something could definitely be said in favor of dealing with snotty noses and tattletales instead of maggots and blood spatter.
As the drugs dissipated from her body, Sadie was left with a pounding headache and she closed her eyes. She wriggled under the blankets but the sheets were tucked too tightly around her legs and the place smelled too sterile. Slowly all the working sounds of the hospital became background noise and Sadie drifted off to sleep. Later that night she became aware someone was in her room but thought it was just a nurse because they seemed to take pleasure in waking her to check her pulse and blood pressure every hour. Her eyes fluttered open and settled on a man in a dark suit. Then Sadie spied a clerical collar.
A priest? Wait a second. That's not a priest. It's an ex-priest hotel manager.
”Herbert, is that you, or have the drugs not worn off yet?”
”It's me. How are you?” he asked, smiling down on her. ”I was so worried when I heard what happened over at the house.”
”Word sure gets around.” Sadie frowned. ”That's really nice that you took the time to visit me.” She looked him up and down. ”I thought you left the priesthood?”
”n.o.body ever leaves.”
”So it's like 'Hotel California'?” she joked, sitting up a little bit.
He shook his head.
”I'm okay. Really.”
”You're not okay. It's all around you.”
”What is?” Sadie looked around the room.
”Evil. It's all around you and even inside you. You've chosen a life where you taunt the devil on a daily basis. I thought that, given the opportunity to help me, you'd do the right thing.” He frowned. ”A few years ago we were on the same page and shared the same thoughts. We had a connection. An unspoken agreement.”
”What are you talking about?” Maybe there were still drugs in her system, because she sure felt confused.
”When we talked after the death of our siblings and-”
”The death of our-” Sadie stopped herself short. ”Oh my G.o.d. Now I remember! The support group for families who suffered through suicide. I was there because my brother killed himself and you were there because your sister-”
”Not my sister. I don't call that whoring mongrel my sister anymore,” he seethed. ”I've spent my time trying to get rid of all like her. When Gayla told me about your spiritual calling I thought you were like me. Ridding the world of Satan's blight . . . you spiritually, me physically, taking hookers out of commission.”
Sadie swallowed nervously. His voice was low and soothing but his eyes were crazy huge. Her hands groped along the bedsheets for the call b.u.t.ton.
”Gayla? How do you know Gayla?”
”When I ran a hotel in Albuquerque she was my accounting manager and my lover. She had lots of great ideas about the afterlife that intrigued me. After too many martinis she told me how she had bought a couple spirit-infested houses and turned them for a profit. I thought we were on the same side . . . like me and you-she dealing with spirits, like you, and me dealing with those who sell their bodies for profit. I broke up with Gayla when I realized she just wanted money.”
”But she bought your old house and-”
”That was my idea. I'd been keeping an eye on the house. I knew that neighbor, Roy, couldn't afford to hang on to it forever. The minute it hit the market, I called Gayla and asked her to buy it.” He rolled his eyes. ”Of course she screwed that up too, having to partner with it. When she told me it was haunted, I couldn't very well allow that b.i.t.c.h Iris to ruin everything.”
”Y-you were Della's husband . . . Iris's father!” Sadie scooted up her bedsheets, trying to get away. ”Wh-what do you want?”
”What I've always wanted, of course. To eliminate flaming wh.o.r.es, alive or spirited, who tempt men.” He tilted his head in surprise. ”Don't you remember? You told me you understood. . . . I shared in group about my sister going into prost.i.tution and then killing herself and leaving an angry note blaming me. You said she pointed a finger at me because she was unable to deal with her own issues. That was very profound and accurate.” He sighed. ”They all do that. . . . They all point their evil fingers at me, forcing me to cut off their accusing pointer and-”
”I don't remember saying any of that!” But her mind raced to connect the jigsaw in her head and then it clicked. She'd offered him consolation after the group meetings. Told him his sister's finger pointing was wrong and that her death wasn't his fault.
”Of course you said it! Don't pretend you didn't know it all along,” he hissed. ”The finger my sister pointed at me . . . the finger they all point at the men in order to corrupt their thoughts and deeds . . . that's why I had to leave my family. I had to search out the offenders. They had to die!” He jabbed her angrily with his own finger. ”I knew if I left you the fingers you would make the connection and you'd know what to do, but you ignored the fingers . . . the necklace to help you focus . . . all my gifts that were to help us be partners and-”
”Partners? Fingers? Oh my G.o.d. . . . Those poor women, and you . . . you even killed your own daughter. . . . You killed Iris!”
”Iris was weak. . . . She sold her body just like my sister . . . like her aunt! It was in her blood. I made sure her mother saw the truth. I didn't have to kill her.” His smile was cruel. ”I just needed to convince her mother to do what had to be done.”
”She wasn't a prost.i.tute. She only wanted to be an actress. Not everyone that went to that acting camp was from the streets! Get out! Y-you need to leave!” Sadie said with a strength she didn't feel. Her hands still searched the side of her bed for the call b.u.t.ton.
”I'll go,” he said. ”Let me just pray for you first.” He raised his hands in the air. ”Carnalem concupiscentiam est insatiabilis,” he murmured.
”The words from the necklace,” Sadie whispered.
He looked down on her with a frown.
”You were supposed to recognize the calling. You saw their spirits. It was a message that He called you to rid the world of wh.o.r.es. I saw a medium who had the necklace empowered with a spell that would drain energy from anybody unless they were ridding the spiritual world of tramps and wh.o.r.es while I worked on those in the physical here and now.” His voice was tight with anger. ”You ignored the messages I left. We were supposed to work together . . . then die together. Once you're gone, maybe you can finally rid the spiritual dimension of those tramps.”
Herbert put his hands on his hips and his black jacket fell open. Hanging on a clip from his belt were sharp pruning shears. The kind that would be perfect for snipping off fingers!
Sadie opened her mouth to scream but Herbert pressed his palm over her mouth and nose with such pressure her teeth cut into her lips.
”Luke eleven verse twenty, Sadie,” he snarled. ”'If I drive out demons by the finger of G.o.d, then the kingdom of G.o.d has come upon you.'”
Sadie tried to push him off, but his entire body weight was pressed into her. Only a small amount of air managed to slip between his fingers into her nose, and her lungs began to burn.
”My daughter was slipping into the world of wh.o.r.es,” he hissed furiously in Sadie's face. ”And her useless mother was blind to the demons! Leviticus twenty-one declares that if a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prost.i.tute, she must be killed!”
Sadie kicked up her feet but they were bound tightly with the sheets. d.a.m.n hospital corners!
With one hand still pressed forcefully against her mouth, Herbert used his other to quickly slip a gold chain from around his neck. Then he released her mouth and swiftly tugged the long chain over Sadie's head. She went to scream but had so little breath in her lungs that it came out a mere squeak.
Herbert grabbed the chain and began twisting. Sadie felt the gold cut into her neck as she writhed and thrashed, trying to throw him off balance. It was no good. He was too strong.
Abruptly, Herbert stiffened and tensed. His body vibrated and his face drew into a grimace as though he were having some kind of a seizure. He fell to the floor. Zack stood behind him holding a Taser gun.
Zack rushed to her side and pressed the call b.u.t.ton her fingers had been desperately trying to reach.
”You okay?” Zack asked.
Sadie coughed and gasped but managed to nod.
Herbert Sylvane moaned softly on the floor and Zack pressed the Taser trigger and jolted him a second time.