Authors: Angella Graff
“So you got through med school with help from the Greek God of Medicine?” Ben asked.
“Look, I know you don’t believe it, and frankly that makes me feel better because I’m not proud of it. I got lucky that I had a natural talent for it, because I never took a single exam; he took them all for me. During any particularly difficult diagnosis, he’d take over during my residency. The only reason I’m as good as I am now is luck, luck and years of practice, and with my degree, the resources that were provided to me. I cheated, and even to this day I need him when things get difficult.”
Ben crossed his arms and sat back against his seat, looking at Greg out of the corner of his eye. “Okay so I’ll play along. Let’s pretend that there are these… these… vessel things. These people who had ancestors banging the gods. What has that got to do with any of this?”
“Charles, the patient from last night, is a vessel,” Greg said. “All of those people in your homicide report were vessels. There are millions, Ben. The gods didn’t hold back when they had the ability to procreate with humans. Now, the gods left, they’re shadows of their former selves. Some of them are angry, some are just content with what they have, but I’m afraid some of them are getting restless. They have something to do with Judas’s kidnapping, but I’m not sure what.”
“So this Mark guy, and his friend,” Ben said, refusing to say the name Judas, “are they gods, or vessels or whatever?”
Greg shook his head, looking troubled. “I don’t know what they are. Asclepius says they’re something different, ancient, touched by one of the ancient gods, but they’re not like him. They are human, which I have verified by Judas’s samples with every medical test open to me.”
“So, they’re regular humans who live forever?” Ben asked.
“They’re more than regular humans, and you know it. You know what Judas is capable of because you’ve experienced it. You’re not even wearing your glasses anymore.”
Ben’s hand reflexively went to the bridge of his nose and he pushed down a wave of panic. “I don’t know what happened to me, and I’ll probably never know. That, however, isn’t what matters. What matters is Mark has my sister, John Doe has been kidnapped, and I have coma patients getting up out of their beds in a hospital and dropping dead two weeks later because all of their organs fail.”
“They’re being careless,” Greg said softly.
“Who? Who are being careless?”
“The old ones. They’re not paying attention to the strain on the human bodies.”
“Why haven’t you dropped dead?” Ben demanded. “If that god is in your body all the time, why are you still healthy and well?”
“Because he knows the limits of my body,” Greg said simply. “He’s one of the few who cares that the human form can only take so much, and it’s not without risk even when he’s careful. I’ve been hurt before. Many times before. I’m just lucky.”
“So you keep saying,” Ben said.
Greg fell silent, though he glanced over at Ben several times. It was many miles down the road before Greg spoke again, and when he did, it was the worst information of all. “Your family line comes from a god too, Ben. As I said before, they can’t touch you. Your utter and soul-deep disbelief protects you from their influence on you. Your sister however… is a bit more of an open book. If she’s not careful, they will use her like a puppet until she drops dead.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Under a fake credit card, Mark rented a rather posh hotel room on Coronado Island. Out of the city, and equipped with a small, quiet, private beach, it was just what the pair needed while they waited for Ben and the mysterious doctor to arrive.
It wasn’t tourist season in southern California, so the beach was empty, the wind a bit cold, but refreshing as the pair settled onto a large blanket near the water with a couple of sandwiches and two cups of steaming hot tea from the hotel café. Abby was wrapped in a sweater and scarf, her hair pulled back tightly, and she looked tired but calmer than she had in a while.
Mark settled next to her, holding on to the wrapped up sandwich but making no move to eat it. He was listening to the soft sounds of the gentle waves crashing on the sand, and the occasional cawing of the seagulls as they hopped around, hoping the pair would leave a bit of food behind for them to scavenge.
“This is probably the most relaxed I’m going to be for a while, isn’t it?” Abby asked, her voice even softer in the gusty wind.
Mark gave her a soft, sad smile. “Probably so. I wish I could tell you that this will blow over and you’re going to just go back to your normal life, and everything will be fine…”
“But you can’t, I get that,” Abby finished for him. She picked at her sandwich, eating a bit of cheese from the middle, but neither of them were really hungry. “Have you heard from my brother or that doctor?”
“Just a quick message around five this morning saying they were on their way,” Mark said with a shrug. He checked his watch and let out a little sigh. “They should be here in about an hour or so. I’m going to send them the address to the hotel and they can meet us here.”
“Do you think the other detectives have figured out we’re involved in that break-in?” Abby’s voice was tense with worry.
“Not yet. I’ve left my phone on all day and they haven’t called demanding my whereabouts last night. It’ll happen eventually, but we may have a little time yet.”
Abby brushed some stray hair out of her eyes and turned her head away from the wind. “So what’s going to happen to me after this? I mean, I know the big plan, we find Yehuda, we get you guys out of here and you disappear, but… but then what? I mean, I can’t just go back to school and keep teaching about God when I know… you know, all of that stuff now. How can I look at those kids and say, the Bible is all real when I’m sitting here right now with the guy who wrote it, telling me that it’s all wrong.”
Mark felt an unfamiliar ache in his chest. Guilt, he realized after a moment. He felt guilty, because his mere existence had destroyed her faith in something she held dear. Reaching out, he took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. He didn’t know how to tell her that it really wasn’t going to be alright. That she was always going to struggle and it was probably going to make her bitter. He didn’t want to do that to her. Mark liked her. If the situation had been different, Mark probably would have married her.
He laughed to himself quietly and pulled her close to him. “I don’t know, Abby. You don’t go back there, you don’t lie to the children, you just… move on. You move on, and hopefully one day you’ll forgive me.”
Abby leaned against Mark’s shoulder, a small, contented hum escaping her as Mark’s warm arm settled around her. Mark knew that teasing her with something she wanted but could never really have was cruel for her, but it was cruel for him, too. Still, in times like this, it was the little comforts that got them through. It was the small hope that there could be some sort of happiness, some sort of peace in the future that kept him going.
Eventually Mark pulled away and started in on his food, saying nothing, but smiled a little when Abby did the same. The sun came out after a little while, bringing a little warmth to the brisk October air, and when Mark received the message from Ben that they were on the Island, they headed to the room to wait.
Mark and Abby had made it back to the hotel lobby just as Ben arrived with a grey-haired companion. Both men were dressed casually, jeans, sweaters, dark jackets. Ben looked exhausted, his eyes surrounded by dark circles, his hands trembling from an obvious over-consumption of caffeine for the long drive.
He looked up as Mark and Abby walked towards them, Ben’s eyes locked on Abby’s face. He was tense, like he wanted to run to her and either slap her or hug her, and Mark wasn’t sure which urge was winning at the moment. Abby, for her part, stayed calm, though it was probably more to do with her exhaustion than her emotional control.
The doctor, for his part, was a rather attractive man for his age, his skin with very few wrinkles, his eyes bright and his smile genuine and wide. He extended his hand as Mark drew close enough for greetings, and Mark shook it.
“We’ve met,” the doctor said, “though you probably didn’t see me at the time.”
Mark gave a sheepish sort of smile and said, “I’m sure you’ve been told why.”
“I have, and I understand,” he said. “I’m Greg Asclepius, but please call me Greg.”
“We should probably take this to a more… discreet location,” Ben said sharply, still staring at Abby.
“Right,” Mark said and started to lead the way to the elevators so they could convene in the privacy of their hotel room.
“I’m sorry,” Abby said quietly from behind Mark.
Ben gave a little snort. “I’m sure you are. We’re going to discuss this at another time, Abby.”
Abby pushed her way next to Mark and jabbed the up button for the elevator harder than was necessary. “I’m sorry but no, we’re not. I’m not a ten year old, Ben. I’m absolutely capable of making my own decisions and I don’t need to run everything by you.”
“When you’re running off with the top suspect in my homicide case, yes, you do,” Ben snapped.
Mark looked back at Ben. “Top suspect in your homicide case?”
“It’s not important,” Greg insisted as they got into the elevator. “The homicide case is not our primary focus here.”
“Oh, and how is that up to you?” Ben demanded. “None of you should forget, not even for a moment, that I am a detective, I am working a case, and I will have no problem filing charges against any of you, should I find out you were involved with any crime.” Ben kept his eyes fixed on Abby as he spoke, his hands trembling more now in anger than caffeine consumption.
Abby rolled her eyes and shifted to the corner of the elevator. She sulked childishly as the elevator rode to the top of the building and she waited until everyone was out before she disembarked. The four of them, now surrounded by a rather tense silence, followed Mark down the hall and into the rather large suite.
“I’m assuming you didn’t use cash for this,” Ben said as he looked around the posh room. “I’m also sure you didn’t use your credit cards since you know that Burgess and Ross are going to find out that you’ve left your job without notice and will be tracking both of you.”
Abby rolled her eyes and walked into the back room, leaving Mark to explain. “I have a few accounts, set up for emergencies,” he said and walked to the small counter where the hotel had left complementary wine in a bucket. The ice was nearly gone now, but it was still cold, and Mark knew they could all use a drink.
“I assure you, it’s not illegal. It’s set up under a pseudonym and any tax ID number I use, does not belong to another person,” he assured Ben.
“We’ll worry about that another time,” Ben snapped.
Mark poured three glasses of wine and handed one to the doctor, who refused it, and one to Ben who gulped it down with fierce abandon. Mark topped it off, and gestured for the men to sit in the small grouping of stiff, uncomfortable chairs near the window.
“Obviously we have a lot to talk about,” Mark began and sipped on the wine. “Things have been up in the air, and we’ve not been able to share the information we have with each other.”
“You should have called me if you were planning on taking off with my sister,” Ben said, his voice somewhat subdued.
“I had no plans of leaving with her, Ben. I had every intention of finding Yehuda and making our way out of this country without alerting or involving anyone else. Unfortunately your sister felt it necessary to join me, and she would not take no for an answer.”
Ben sighed and set his wine glass down on the small glass table in front of him. “I would be more upset if that didn’t sound exactly like her.”