Part 27 (1/2)
”Kind of,” Deem said. ”I think I'm on their hit list now. I confronted the guy we tracked, and he told me they were planning on the skinrunner taking me down. He knew about the attacks.”
”That is very troubling,” Awan said, furrowing his brow. ”More troubling than the skinrunner.”
”I don't know,” Deem said. ”They're a bunch of old white guys, higher-ups in the church, who like to go to a lot of meetings and throw their weight around. They're not used to someone standing up to them. Especially not a girl.”
”All the more reason to be concerned,” Awan said.
”I was thinking we should go back to Claude and see if he'd be willing to share everything he knows with us,” Winn suggested. ”He said he had a lot on the secret council in his files.”
”Who's Claude?” Awan asked.
”He's this guy Deem's been talking to about the secret council,” Winn said. ”I think he knows more than he's sharing, because he's unsure if we believe him or not. He's a little paranoid. He might open up more if we a.s.sured him we're on his side of things.”
”He's paranoid with good reason!” Awan said. ”Is this the 'Hour of Truth' guy?”
”You've heard of him?” Deem asked, surprised.
”Every non-Mormon has heard of him,” Awan said. ”People think he's a crackpot, like Art Bell, but they listen to him regardless.”
”Hey, Art Bell's no crackpot,” Winn said. ”I like him.”
”I'm just saying people know about him,” Awan said.
”Claude told me everything I know about the secret council at this point,” Deem said. ”Without him, I wouldn't have known what to do.”
”Maybe you should pay him another visit,” Awan said. ”Convince him you're sincere. He may share more with you.”
”It's as good an idea as any,” Deem said. ”I need an ally in this cause, and he seems to know the most.”
”Why don't we go over to his place when we're finished?” Winn said. ”Awan, you should meet him. He's a good contact.”
”Sure, I'd like to meet him,” Awan said. ”My brother-in-law listens to his show every night. I'll bet he'd let me borrow his riding mower if I got him an autograph.”
”What do you say, Deem?” Winn asked.
Deem knew Winn was just trying to help. She thought she'd been as honest and sincere with Claude as she could possibly be. Skepticism came naturally to her, and perhaps it showed. But with everything she'd learned about the secret council and Dayton in the past few days, she was no longer skeptical. Things had risen to a new level. Maybe Claude would sense that and share more.
”Sure,” she said. ”He's gonna get sick of us just dropping in.”
”We'd call first,” Winn said, ”but he doesn't trust phones.”
Chapter Twelve.
It was dark when they arrived at Claude's. Deem walked up to the door to knock, Awan and Winn right behind her.
She raised her hand but stopped when she noticed the door was ajar.
”Winn,” she said, whispering. ”No way he'd leave it open like this.”
Winn stepped forward and examined the door. ”Whoever it is, they may still be inside.”
”Who can enter a trance the quickest?” Deem asked. ”It takes me about two minutes.”
”A minute,” Winn said.
”Twenty seconds,” Awan said.
”Really?” Deem said, surprised. ”OK, you do it.”
Awan closed his eyes and entered the River. Once he constructed the trance, he drifted into Claude's house. After a few seconds he left the trance and returned to the others.
”One man, all in black, face covered, in the living room. He's holding a knife.”
”Claude?” Deem asked.
Awan shook his head.
”f.u.c.k!” Winn said. ”What do we do?”
Awan pulled a gun from under his s.h.i.+rt and held it up. ”We go in.”
”Where the f.u.c.k did that come from?” Deem asked. ”You've had that the whole time?”
”Yes,” Awan said.
”And you know how to use it?” she asked.
Awan looked hurt. ”Of course I do. I'll go first.”
Awan pushed the door open and walked inside, following the path he'd seen in the trance. The house was dark, no lights were on. When they had all entered Claude's living room, Deem could see the man dressed in black, leaning over someone seated in a chair.
”Stop right there!” Awan shouted. The man whirled around, knife in hand. He immediately bolted into the kitchen, out of sight. Awan ran after him.
Deem looked at the figure in the chair. It was Claude. At first she thought he might still be alive, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, the truth of what had happened to him began to sink in.
”Oh G.o.d,” she said, turning away from the sight. She looked at Winn; he opened his arms and she buried her face in his chest.
Awan returned from the kitchen. He flipped on a light switch, and the living room illuminated. ”He's gone, out the kitchen door. There's a dead dog in the back yard.”
”Could you tell who it was?” Winn asked. ”Anything about him?”
”I don't even know if it was a 'him,'” Awan said. ”He was completely covered.”
Winn looked down at Claude. He was tied to the chair. The intruder had used the knife to disembowel him, and had grotesquely pulled his intestines out from the wound and strung them up and over Claude's shoulder.
”Look what he did to him,” Winn said, shocked. ”It's sick.”