Rise of the Beast (45 page)

C
HAPTER
18

Chris tried for the third time to call Serena’s cell phone without success. He was growing increasingly agitated. “I should never have let her go in there alone.”

“And having both of you missing would be better?” asked Pastor Smith. “She might have turned it off herself.”

“Or someone might have turned it off for her,” retorted Chris. “It’s been almost an hour and a half since she walked in there.”

Again Chris pulled out his binoculars. From their vantage point on the fourth floor of the parking garage, they had a clear view of the main entrance of the Davidson building. Serena was nowhere in sight.

Chris looked up through the snow toward the 31st floor. He couldn’t make out much from here, just offices with people milling about. He looked still higher to the 32nd floor. All of the windows on that floor were shuttered. From here it looked like one whole floor had been left vacant, but Chris knew better.

It was then that Julio stepped away from the edge and walked back toward the middle of the garage. He pulled out his cell phone and made a call. Chris glanced back for but a moment before turning his attention to the main entrance once more. How long was he supposed to wait? He and Serena had not discussed that issue. Certainly he hadn’t expected her to take this long. No, he shouldn’t have allowed her to go in there alone.

“She’s going to be fine,” said Pastor Smith. “If the Holy Spirit led her in there, then He is going to lead her out.”

“OK, let’s go over this again,” said the uniformed security officer as he paced across the floor of the small, poorly lit room.

Serena sat in a metal folding chair, as she had these past 50 minutes, a security guard to either side of her. The only light in the room of any consequence was directed practically in her face. It reminded her of one of those old detective flicks, of an interrogation of the prime suspect by the police.

“It’s like I told you, there’s nothing to tell,” she insisted. “I was a good friend of Mr. James’s grandmother. This was a personal visit. There were things that I wanted him to know.”

“Like what?” asked the interrogator.

“That was between him and me,” insisted Serena.

“Then why didn’t you visit him at home?” continued the officer

“Maybe I should,” was the response.

“Don’t think that we don’t know who you are, Serena Davis,” said the interrogator, a growing menace in his voice. “We know all about you.”

“Do you?” asked Serena. “Then why don’t you tell me.”

Serena was surprised when her response was met with a hard slap to the face. She might have fallen from the chair had not the two officers grabbed her by the arms.

“Know this, Serena Davis. I’m not in the mood to play games,” said the interrogator at point blank range.

He had a very bad odor about him, very disturbing. Serena could smell the demon within him. The other two guards were a different story; they were totally human. Serena could not be certain if this bully was a man possessed or a demon in disguise. Still, he smelled like a demon, despite what he looked like.

“Tell me what the two of you talked about,” said the interrogator, his voice louder this time.

“It had nothing to do with your company, if that’s what you mean,” replied Serena, rubbing her mouth to find blood on the back of her hand. Yes, there was fear in her heart, but it was more than that. There was a sort of righteous anger in her heart. She knew what she was dealing with—this foul creature. He had no right to be here. Yet she curbed her anger. It might be a very bad idea to tip her hand at this point. If this being realized just how much she knew, she might not get out of this place at all.

At that very moment, the door to the hallway opened and in stepped yet another shadowy figure. He was dressed in black, and he was surrounded by a dark aura that matched the grim environment.

“Sir, this is the one who was talking to Mr. James,” said the interrogator. “Her name is Serena Davis.”

“Yes,” said the figure, stepping into the light. “I know who she is.”

It had been a very long time since Serena had last seen him, and that had been in another place in the universe altogether. He had made no effort to alter his facial features whatever. It sent a chill up her spine. “Hello, sir,” she said.

Lusan smiled, though slightly. “Of all of the people I have ever known in my long existence, you are probably the only one that insists upon calling me sir.”

“I do it out of respect for your position,” replied Serena. “I take it that we are not playing charades here.”

Lusan laughed openly. “And what purpose would that serve? It has been a long time, Serena. Why I do believe that you have some gray hairs on that pretty head of yours. I suspect that I put at least a few of them there.”

“I’m sure you did,” confirmed Serena.

“I have been looking forward to this little chat for a long time, little one,” said Lusan. “And for all of that time you have been a pain in my side.”

“It is my job, sir,” replied Serena, doing her best to remain calm, at least on the outside. At this point, she was doing a pretty good job of it.

“Yes,” confirmed Lusan, “I suppose it is.”

“So, where do we go from here?” asked Serena.

Again Lusan smiled. “Well, I suppose that’s up to you, little one. Garthang here has asked you a question. From my understanding, he has asked it several times. If you want out of here, you could start by answering it.”

“It really bugs you, doesn’t it?” posed Serena. “It is difficult to perpetuate a deception within a deception. Leland James believes that he is protecting your true identity from the world, but even what he believes he knows is a lie.”

The interrogator prepared to strike Serena again, but Lusan stayed his hand. “Easy, Garthang, we don’t want to damage her, at least not yet.”

“You can’t win this, you know that,” said Serena.

“That is a matter of opinion,” objected Lusan.

“Not to me,” replied Serena. “Your downfall was prophesied thousands of years ago.”

“By misguided humans,” interjected Lusan. “I don’t take their words very seriously.”

Garthang touched the ear bud in his right ear. “Go desk,” he said.

A scowl came to his face. At this point, Serena found herself wondering what this character would look like aged a bit and with black bat wings. The guard turned to Lusan.

“Sir, there is a detective and two patrolmen in the downstairs lobby, NYPD. They are asking for Serena Davis. They are very insistent about it.”

Lusan shook his head sadly. “Too bad, this was just starting to get interesting.” He turned once more to Serena. “I fear that we will have to continue this discussion at a later time.”

“You intend to release her?” asked Garthang.

“I can do little else,” replied Lusan, turning back toward his minion. “Escort her back downstairs, and don’t harm her.” Lusan paused and then turned once more to Serena. “Understand this, little one. You are not welcome here. Do not return. The time might come when I will call for you. Until then, our conversation is at an end.”

The guards helped Serena to her feet and back out into the hall. A minute
later they were on the elevator going down.

“I would take the master’s words seriously if I were you,” said Garthang as they passed the 11th floor. “You were lucky today; you might not be next time.”

“I don’t believe in luck,” said Serena.

“Believe it or not,” replied Garthang, “but yours is about to run out.”

The door opened before them, revealing the brightly lit main lobby and the snow falling beyond the large windows. Before her stood two NYPD officers in blue, while behind them, stood two other men. Serena recognized one as Julio.

Serena turned to the security guards as she stepped from the elevator. “Thank you for your hospitality. I feel most enlightened.”

Garthang and the others said nothing. A few seconds later the elevator door closed.

“Are you all right, ma’am,” said one of the uniformed officers, glancing at the small slightly swollen gash at the side of Serena’s lip.

“Yes, thank you,” said Serena. “I am now.”

The man standing behind the uniformed officers stepped forward. “John, Sergio, thank you very much for your assistance.”

“No problem, Detective Strom,” said the officer on the right. “We’re just glad that everything worked out OK.” He turned to Serena, “Have a good day, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” said Serena, as the officers departed.

“I think we all need to talk,” announced the detective, “but not here.”

The three headed on out into the snow where Chris and Pastor Smith were waiting. Chris and Serena embraced.

“I was afraid I’d lost you,” said Chris. “I couldn’t bear to lose you again.”

“There is a nice coffeehouse about a block down that way,” noted Detective Strom, “We can talk there. It’s too cold out here.”

“Thank you for your help, Detective Strom,” said Julio, as the group walked through the snow.

“Yes, thank you,” said Chris and Serena almost simultaneously.

“That’s my job,” assured Detective Strom. He paused for just a moment. Mrs. Davis, can you explain to me why you went in there if you felt that it might place your life in some risk?”

“Place my life at risk?” asked Serena.

“Yes,” confirmed Strom. “Everyone else here seemed to believe you were in some danger. That’s what Julio thought when he called me. Now, you’re not going to tell me that you’re the only one here who felt comfortable about it.”

Serena hesitated. “No, I’m not. My going in there was a bit risky. You see, there is a bit of a history between me and Lusan. It goes about nine years back, long before he came to America. The relationship was quite a bit more painful for me than it was for him.”

“I see,” said Strom. “Not too many people can claim that they knew Lusan before he came to New York.”

“I’m sure of that,” confirmed Serena.

“So, let me ask you again,” continued the detective, “why did you go in there?”

“I had some important personal papers to deliver to Leland James. He works for Lusan. They were papers from his late grandmother.”

“And you thought they were that important?” asked the detective. “You couldn’t simply have delivered them to his house after work or even mailed them to him?”

“No,” replied Serena. “I felt led to deliver them to him here.”

“Felt led?” asked Strom. “What do you mean by that?”

“I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit,” replied Serena.

Detective Strom shook his head. “Look, I need to know all that happened to you in there, everything you remember. By the looks of you, someone in there gave you a rough time. Once I know what happened, we can figure out if you have the grounds for charges of assault against you.”

Serena covered all of the details she could remember from her conversation with Leland to her interrogation and her conversation with Lusan. She left out
how it was that she knew Lusan. She hoped that Detective Strom wouldn’t pursue that line of questioning just yet.

“So, basically, you were just sharing some personal information with Leland about his grandmother,” said Strom. “Not to antagonize Lusan or his people.”

“Of course not,” replied Serena.

“And your conversation with Leland James was civil?” continued Strom. “Yes,” said Serena. “We got along very well.” “Security’s actions against you were unprovoked?”

“I didn’t do anything to them,” said Serena. “In fact, I was on my way out.”

“Do you think what they did to you had anything to do with problems you and Lusan have had in the past?” asked Strom.

“I can’t rule it out,” said Serena.

The detective nodded. “I would say, based on what you’ve told me, we have grounds to file a charge of aggravated assault against this Mr. Garthang, but not against Mr. Lusan. If so, we need to photograph your injuries here within the next half hour or so. I have a camera to do that. That is assuming that you want to press assault charges. Still, it would be your word against theirs.”

“I’m not sure what I want to do,” admitted Serena.

Detective Strom shook his head again. “Folks, you’ll excuse me if I tell you that this whole thing just isn’t making sense to me.” Then he turned to Julio. “Julio, if my memory serves me correctly, you were also a close friend to Clare James.”