Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) (18 page)

Bert saw his cell phone was ringing. He was going to ignore it, but saw it was Dennis calling him. “Great,” he muttered to himself.

“
Hi, Dennis, what’s up?”

“
Bert, did you sign out $50,000 from the evidence locker last night for a sting?”

“
No. Why would I?”

“
The morning custodian mentioned it to the chief. The chief wants to talk to you. He sounds pissed.”

Hesitating, just for a moment, remembering the five stacks of bills in his briefcase, Bert answered, “Oh, yeah, I must have forgotten. It ended up not going down. Say, you didn’t say anything to him, you know. . .”

Dennis cut him off, “About, Cynthia? No. Not a word. You better give him a call; he’s about ready to blow a gasket.”

“
Thanks.” Bert took a deep breath, steadied himself the best that he could. He dialed the chief’s line.

A gruff voice growled into the phone, “Crosby.”

“
Hey, Chief, it’s Bert. Dennis said you were looking for me?”

“
Glad to hear you didn’t skip town. Tell me, Bert, how is it that you signed a large sum of money out from the custodian last night, under my authority, without my knowledge?”

“
Chief, I, I don’t know why I did that.”

“
You realize, I don’t care how sick you are. You pull yourself out of bed, get down to the precinct and turn that money back in. Once you’ve returned the money, you’re going to write a statement detailing why you broke procedure, why you lied to a fellow officer, and for added measure explain why you forged documents for a case that doesn’t exist. You’re going to meet with your union rep., and you’re going to make an appointment with Internal Affairs. Sometime in between all your errands, I’ll expect you to bring me your shield and gun. Am I clear?”

“
Chief, I screwed up.”

“
Your damn right you screwed up! You are not going to take anyone else down with you, you understand?”

“
Yeah, I understand.” The chief disconnected the call. Bert had never heard him so furious about anything in his life.

“
Okay, Samael, care to tell me why I withdrew all that money last night?”

“
Wine, women and song cost money
.”

Bert sat down with his head between his legs on the side of the bed. He didn’t see any of this coming. He looked at his issued weapon on the nightstand, his photo identification and a rolled up piece of metal setting right beside. He picked up the rolled up metal to examine it and realized it was his shield. He was exhausted, broken, and knew life as he knew it - was over. Bert mumbled to himself, “Private security won’t be so bad. The money might even be better.”

“
Way to go, Sport. Look on the bright side. Go ahead and lend me your body. I’ll make sure you go out with a bang!
”

“
Get out!” Bert roared, loud enough that anyone on the street passing by would have heard. Within seconds, his doorbell rang. “Wonderful, Samael, is there anything else I don’t know about? One more surprise might actually do me in today.”

Lauren

I received a strange call from Dennis asking what Detective Ross had asked about during our midnight interview the other night. He mentioned that the detective wasn’t himself lately and wanted to make sure that nothing had happened that Dennis needed to be aware of. When I pressed him for further detail, Dennis would only share that Detective Ross had been under a great deal of stress and was having problems in his personal life. I shared that we had an interesting conversation that night, that I believed he might also be under the same influence of Samael, but that I still didn’t know any additional information about Samael that would be of use to Dennis.

Max and I decided we needed to meet with Bert away from the police station, to try to help him in some way. We found the detective’s home address and decided to try to catch him in the morning before our meeting with the Council and Cabinet.

Detective Ross came to the door. “Can I help you?”

“
Hi, Detective Ross?”

“
Yes, who are you?”

“
I’m Lauren and this is Max. We wanted to talk to you, about Samael.”

Detective Ross stiffened, but nodded, and held the door for us to come in. “So, what did he do to you?”

“
Um, that’s kind of a long story. Detective Ross, you do know what Samael is, right?”

“
I know what he is. He’s usually shouting at me and hasn’t said a word since I opened the door for you two. I can hardly wait to hear where this is going. Call me Bert.”

“
Bert, Samael’s bad news.”

“
Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“
So he’s not in there with your permission?”

“
I’m not sure how he got in here to begin with. I was interviewing Jimmy Jacobs, and then I had a black out. Once I was coherent again he asked my permission and I gave it to him, but that was before I found out what he was doing to my neighbor. I’ve been trying to get him out, but he won’t leave.”

“
Would it be okay if I talked to him?”

“
I’m not going back into the dark, if that’s what you mean.”

I looked at Max, not understanding what Bert meant. Max shrugged and answered, “Samael should be able to hear, Lauren. Just let him talk; you don’t have to go anywhere.”

Cautiously I began, “Samael, I know you can hear me. The Council and the Cabinet know where you are. It’s only a matter of time.”

A wicked grin spread on Bert’s face, “So you came here to warn me? I’m touched, truly touched.”

“
Not to warn you, to ask you to let go of Bert. Let him go before they kill him.”

“
I’ve always liked your dramatics, Lauren. You and Max won’t allow them to harm Bert. Why do you think you’re here? To watch? I think not. Or maybe, Max, are you volunteering to host me again?”

“
No!” We both shouted in unison.

Max looked squarely into Bert’s eyes, “You need to leave him, Samael.”

“
But I like this body. Obviously, it doesn’t have the perks of yours.” Samael’s gaze looked from Max to me. “Speaking of perks, Lauren, I’ve missed you, terribly. I’ve been on your mind as well, yes?”

“
Sure, the same way I miss a cavity after I go to the dentist. We aren’t playing with you. Get out, go wherever you go when you aren’t leeching off of a human.”

“
Ahhh, that is the question. Where does one go when he has been defeated? You remember the dark, Lauren? I spent decades in a cave, hiding in the dark. No. Not again.”

Max spoke up, “Bert, I know you can still hear us. Can you force him out? Try to push him away.”

Daggers looked back through Bert’s eyes, “Max, I’m hurt. Bert allowed me in fair and square. Much the same as you did.”

“
I only hosted you to get you to leave Lauren alone. Detective Ross has a life to get back to. You’ve had your fun. You’ve been enough of a disruption. Let him go.”

That same wicked grin shone through when Samael responded, “Yes, Bert let me have quite a bit more fun than you ever did! We’ve had a couple interludes with a very lovely lady. I got to play ‘real life’ cops and robbers. We’ve become rather chummy. I am surprised to see you two again. Lauren, is so protective of you. I thought she’d not let you within spitting distance.”

My stomach turned at what this could mean. I didn’t dare ask.

Bert spoke, “Listen, I appreciate what you two are trying to do. Samael has made a mess of a few things for me lately, and I need to break out the cleaning supplies.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I mean, I have to go turn in my badge and gun to the chief – I was suspended. I have to meet with my Union Rep. to try not to get tossed out on my ass, permanently. I’ve got to meet with a patrolman who took pictures of Samael’s conquests etched all over one of my neighbors. And I need to explain to Internal Affairs why I ‘borrowed’ fifty thousand dollars.”

“
Bert, he tricked you. He promised you a lot of things. Samael is evil. You can break free. You can have your life back.”

“
I’ve made a mess of everything. My career is over. For what?”

Max was encouraging Bert. “You still have your life. Take your body back. Tell him he’s not welcome. Tell him to get out.”

“
You think I haven’t tried that?”

I could hear Samael’s voice through Bert’s words, “It really is a pleasure to see you two again. Lauren, my dear, I’ve missed you terribly. We never had a proper romp, what with everything going on. I believe Bert could provide you some lovely photos of just how thrilling a night with me could be. They are lying right there in that folder.” He pointed to a folder on the coffee table.

I picked up the folder and saw the gruesome images as Max shouted, “Samael, get out of him, now!”

“
I will, in due time. I’m just about finished.”

“
I mean it, Samael. Leave him now.”

“
You miss me, don’t you, Max? So lonely without me. I do confess that I miss Lauren terribly: the soft touch of her skin, the little noise she makes when she orgasms. I’m sure you’ve discovered a host of new sounds since my departure.”

“
Samael, this is your last warning. Leave him now.”

“
Or what? You’re going to pry me out with a chisel? I think not. I’ll release Bert when I’m able to finish my tasks. Isn’t that right, Bert?”

Silence echoed out, not so much as a twitch of his muscle or a blink of his eye: Samael was definitely in control. He was strong, so much stronger than I remembered him. Max’s resolve was unyielding, “Bert, can you hear me, Bert? The body is yours; you only have to tell him to leave. Tell him to leave right now.”

Samael laughed through Bert, a loud, sinister laugh. “I believe it’s a little more complicated than that, Max. I’m not quite strong enough to phase out and live on my own, and if I leave Bert, I’ll have to take refuge in a host. Are you volunteering? Is that what I’m hearing?”

I looked at Max, knowing the answer we needed to give to Samael. Max nodded slightly, wordlessly agreeing that this was the only way. I looked back at Samael, “If that’s what it takes, yes, Max will host you again.”

Max said nothing to contradict my offer. Samael looked perplexed, “Really? You’re offering up your soul-mate to host me. He will share you with me. I thought this was repellent to you?”

I didn’t answer his question, instead asking my own, “Samael, what happened to you? You were the one who said destinies shouldn’t be altered. You attacked me that day in the woods because I had bent someone’s destiny. What you’ve done to Jimmy, Bert, and all those innocent people…it just doesn’t make sense.”

“
If the universe saw fit to bear a destiny bender, then who am I to try to keep destinies mapped? No more up-hill battles. I have lived many lifetimes. For my crimes against the universe, I will be banished after this life to a distasteful location. My days are already numbered. It’s time to make the most of them, don’t you agree?”

“
No, Samael, I don’t. When you were in Max, you were almost human. After you left, we had long conversations about you. I know it was you who convinced him to talk to me, when all he wanted was to isolate himself from me. It was your urging that allowed us to remain together, because you, too, knew Max and I were destined for each other. Max told me everything, every conversation you two shared, regardless of how disgusting it may have been. We know you are neither good nor evil by yourself: you feed off the emotions of your host. So I tell you now, if the only way you’ll leave Bert is to step into Max, then step into him.”

I could see the confusion on Bert’s face, the hope shining through clouded eyes. Samael’s voice spoke again, “Why would you put yourself and Max in such danger? Why would you allow yourself to be subjected to that? It doesn’t make any sense?”

“
Because, it’s the right thing to do, for the right reason. Let him go, Samael.”

“
Max, it seems Lauren missed me. Are you of the same mind? Are you welcoming me back to your body?”

Max let out a deep sigh, “Yes, now let him go.”

“
This isn’t some sort of a trick you two have schemed up, is it? You are simply here to take me home to Ridgeville?”

“
For Pete’s sake, Samael, let Bert go.”

Without further deliberations, Max stepped up to Bert and put his hands on his shoulder. I could see the pain on both their faces as Samael finally left Bert. Bert’s features were his own again; the relief showed clearly as soon as the process was over. He began speaking a mile a minute, like a child who had been forced to sit quietly for hours being given the opportunity to speak freely.

“
Oh my God, he’s gone. He’s really gone. He’s a demon. You let a demon into your body. Why would you do that? He’s vile. You should have seen what he did to my neighbor.” Bert gripped the folder with photos in his hand shaking them at us. “He destroyed my job. He never let me have control. It was all him. I felt his rage: he wants to destroy everything that is good with the world and people.”

Max was tuning Bert’s words and warnings out. He spoke very clearly to Samael, out loud, rather than through his thoughts, “You do not have permission to use my body, you may not participate in any of my decisions, do you hear me?”