Not taking any chances, Varius pulled the rifle from where it was slung over his shoulder. He wanted to trust his instincts, but with all the recent revelations from the Horatius Group, he knew they could be easily tricked. Better to be safe than story.
Someone groaned from the front of the van, and Varius frowned. The smell of blood filled the air.
He made his way to the driver’s side and was surprised to see a younger man still in the driver’s seat.
The man looked up and groaned. He nodded to the gun Varius carried.
“They took them,” the man said quickly. “You gotta find them, man.”
Varius slung the gun back over his shoulder and opened the door. Whoever shot the man in the arm had left him to die as he bled out.
He stepped in and carefully helped the man out of the van.
“You know who did this?” Varius asked.
The man shook his head. “Didn’t catch a good look at them, but they took Jill and Ray.”
Varius frowned. “They took the reporter?”
The man nodded. “Yeah. Kept talking about how she was part of God’s plan. They are some crazy bastards, man. Cultists or some crap. This is so messed up.”
Varius whipped out his phone and dialed Titus. As soon as his leader answered, Varius spoke.
“Check the reporter,” he said. “She was taken as well.”
“Roger,” Titus said, and the line went dead.
Varius pushed open the door to the van a bit more and helped the man sit down. He had already lost a lot of blood. He’d need to get the bleeding under control before he looked for anything.
He grabbed the shirt hanging up in the van and tore a long strip off it.
“Oh, man, she’s going to kill me for ruining her good shirt,” the driver said.
Varius frowned. “It’s better than dying from bleeding out,” he said and stared at the man as he moved the strip under his arm. “Now take a deep breath. I’ve got to tie it off, and this is going to hurt like hell.”
The man shouted out when he pulled the binding tight. It might have hurt, but it stopped the bleeding.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Varius turned to find the sheriff from this morning with his gun drawn and trained on him.
The driver raised up a weak arm.
“Wait, it’s not him,” the man said. “This dude is helping me. Some men took Jill Hope and her cameraman.”
The sheriff lowered his gun but stared suspiciously at Varius. “You have anything to do with this?” He shook his head. “I knew you’d bring trouble, boy.”
Varius sighed. No point hiding things now, especially now the law was involved.
“The Parkers were attacked as well,” Varius said. “The men took their daughter Lena.”
“Why didn’t you call it in?”
“Sue’s taking Jim to the hospital. She’s going to call you once Jim’s taken care of.”
“And you just thought you’d go all Rambo and solve the problem?”
Varius said nothing. He didn’t know who Rambo was, but he assumed he was some sort of vigilante.
The sheriff sighed loudly and reached for the radio on his waist band. “We’re gonna need an ambulance and additional units heading toward Farm Road 2022 DD. Apparent shooting and kidnapping.”
Someone on the other end called out some letters, and the sheriff voiced his confirmation.
The sheriff stepped forward, and he and Varius helped the injured man to the squad car to rest. When they had him safely tucked inside, the sheriff turned to him.
“If you’re out here doing this crap, then you probably know who did it,” the sheriff said.
Varius nodded. “He calls himself Reverend John. He has a lot of followers.”
The sheriff scrubbed a hand along his face. “Oh, damn it. Yeah, I’ve heard of him.” He stared at Varius for a moment, a hesitant expression on his face. “Do you think they plan to hurt Lena?”
“I know it. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Look, we’re not equipped to deal with large groups. It’ll take a while to get some other departments. But you’re all soldiers, right? I bet you called in reinforcements.”
He watched the sheriff for a moment, wondering if the question was some sort of trick.
“Yeah,” Varius admitted. “I’ve called for reinforcements.”
The sheriff nodded slowly. “When can your men get out here?”
Varius shook his head. “They are still about three hours out, and I have a feeling we don’t have time to wait for my men.” He grimaced. “The last time we dealt with John, he tried to burn several people alive.”
“Jesus,” the sheriff said. “You’re not shitting me, son, are you?”
“I wish I was.”
His phone chirped, and Varius pulled it out, almost glad to see it was Titus.
“Val cracked into her emails. Jill Hope got an email a few days ago about how she was doing God’s work and they hoped to meet her. Smelled fishy, so we traced it all the way back to an account associated with a church that’s no longer active called New Hope.”
Varius pulled the phone away from his ear.
“Know a place called New Hope?” he asked the sheriff.
The sheriff frowned. “Well, sure. Burned down a few years back, and they rebuilt closer to town. Gotta run the teens out of there from time to time.”
Varius put the phone back to his ear. “Got it. Get here as fast as you can.”
“One more thing,” Titus said. Varius could hear the hesitation in his voice as he spoke which only made him more nervous. “Jill was due to go on an hour ago, but they moved her broadcast to half an hour from now. Whatever is going to happen it going to happen at that time.”
Varius clicked off the phone. “How do I get there?”
The sheriff pulled out the map he had in the console of his car. In the distance, Varius could hear cars getting closer, along with distant sirens.
He pointed to a spot on the map. “We’re here, and the church is right here. Gotta go all the way around, but it’s just on the other side of these woods.”
Varius looked at the map and then unslung his rifle to check it.
“Now, look, I can’t condone some cowboy bullshit. It’d be one thing if you had all of your people here, but if it’s just you, you’re not going to do anything but get yourself killed. I’ll contact the other nearby departments and tell them to haul ass.”
Varius shook his head. “Not enough time. We’ve got half an hour before the shit hits the fan. I plan on delaying that as long as I can.”
The sheriff looked like he wanted to argue, but this was all out of his depth. Varius understood. Small-town sheriffs just didn’t deal with stuff like this.
He was surprised when the sheriff extended his hand.
“Thanks, sheriff.”
“Call me Sam,” the sheriff said, his voice strong and firm. “I guess if anyone can go in there and do some cowboy shit and live, one of you people can. Go save her. We’ll be there as soon as we can, and try and not get yourself killed, boy.”
Varius nodded and tore off through the trees, faster than he’d ever run before. Lena needed him, and he’d be damned before he didn’t save her.
Chapter Seventeen
Lena was surprised when the women scrubbed her and ripped off the t-shirt and shorts she was wearing only to slip on a white gown. No one had spoken to her, no matter how much she cried or begged. They were too far involved in all this to back out now. Most looked to be true believers in Reverend John’s twisted cause.
Varius. He’d save her. He did before, and he’d do so again. She clung to the thought. It grounded her and helped pushed away complete panic.
She shook as she was forced out of the shed and forced to walk into the small church just steps away. She missed the place before because she had been so focused on trying to get away from that sleazy man, but now it stood in front of her, mocking in a way, a holy place perverted by a twisted man who pushed nothing but evil and tried to claim he was doing God’s work.
They stepped past the front door, and the sorry state of the place disturbed her. There were several holes in the ceiling, and it was clear one side had been burned badly. Bits of moss grew on the pews, and in general it just looked worn, old and sad.
And now Reverend John was going to finish despoiling this house of God.
The man behind her pushed her hard to step farther into the church. She gasped when she passed a man and woman along the way. She recognized Jill Hope and her cameraman.
The blond reporter’s puffy and red-rimmed eyes suggested she’d been crying for some time. Her clothes were slightly torn and her makeup had run, but she didn’t look too bad. Certainly not like she’d been knocked out or smashed in the face.
Her cameraman looked similarly unhurt, if tense. Of course that probably had to do with the two men sitting behind them pointing guns at their heads.
Jill glanced down. When their eyes met, Lena wondered if she knew just what was in store for her.
Reverend John had managed to somehow slip away from punishment for his crimes in the past. Lena didn’t know all the details, but she knew the hybrids knew more than they were letting on. But whatever influence the Reverend had in his own town, that didn’t change the fact he was a homicidal maniac.
“Everyone to their places,” John shouted from the front of the church. He excitedly bounced around from behind the lectern, and the sight of him displaying such happiness made Lena’s stomach twist. He didn’t have the decency to be solemn about whatever sick act he was about to conduct.
A man pushed Lena the rest of the way up the stairs to stand beside John. He stopped his frantic movement to stare at her for a moment. She could still see the sparkle in his eyes, like he was some sort of kid about to perform in a fun school play.
“Good,” he said quietly. “‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.’”
Several men standing nearby mumbled their amens.
John went back to bouncing around and staring at his watch. Every few seconds, he would glance over to where Jill sat.
Lena took the chance to glance around the room. There had to be some way out of there. An eerie calm settled over her. She figured getting shot trying to escape would be better than whatever plan the Reverend had in store for her.
Something yellow glinted in the darkness of the rafters. She narrowed her eyes, then noticed two glowing yellow dots.
Varius.
Relief blasted through her so strongly she wanted to cry out. He came. She knew he would find her. Tears ran down her face, and she did nothing to conceal them. Even if John noticed, he’d assume she was just scared.
One of the men holding her arm moved a little to speak to the man next to him.
“Man, are we really doing this? I mean… she ain’t one of those things.”
She moved in a little closer to hear them.
“I mean it’s one thing to take out one of those dogs, but now women? That ain’t right.”
The other man huffed loudly. “Yeah, Dave said something like that and look what happened to him. Just shut up, will ya? I wanna get through this and make it back home.”
Lena frowned. Not even all his men were on board with the Reverend. It seemed his crazy behaviors hadn’t gained him any new followers. Somehow murdering people didn’t inspire great loyalty, even in a cult.
Her gaze cut to Jill as the woman stood in the aisle just in front of the reverend. Her whole body shook as she stood there.
The cameraman held up three fingers. Two. One.
And that’s when it hit her, Jill was broadcasting live.
“J-Jill Hope here at a small church with Reverend John, who would like to say a few words to the American people.”
Jill launched herself at the pew, trembling, and the camera panned up to where Lena stood next to the Reverend.
“God’s children, I stand before you a disciple in the word of our lord. We have allowed our country to be corrupted by these animals in man’s skin. These abominations who are nothing more than the tools of the Devil to corrupt our great nation. They have tainted our land and now our women.” He gesticulated wildly. “This woman that stands before,” he said and grabbed Lena roughly by the arm, “has let her temple be tainted by a spawn of Satan. She has turned her back on the Lord and made a mockery of his love for his children.”
Lena shook now. The memory of Varius pushed at the terror filling her heart, but it wasn’t enough. She focused on the camera in front of her, unable to see anything else but her own doom.
Before she had been lucky. Even with Varius there, he wouldn’t be able to save her. The Reverend was hell bent on taking her out.
“We bring this woman before God and the American people,” Reverend John shouted, “‘for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.’”
Varius gagged as the stench of the gas from the rafters assaulted his nostrils. John’s lackeys doused Lena, soaking her with gasoline. The sons of bitches planned to burn her.
She trembled, tears running down her face. He gritted his teeth. He’d have to make his move soon, but he needed to find the right opportunity.
“Today,” Reverend John continued, “we will cleanse this woman with the flames of heaven and let God purify her before her entry into heaven. We will show everyone that the righteous man stands up against evil with bravery, secure in the knowledge that the one true Lord will stand behind them. We are to become the instruments of his wrath on Earth, fighting the Devil and his spawn, whatever the form they take and wherever their corruption leads.” He pointed at Lena. “You can’t go too far when fighting against evil! The only sin is not being steadfast in your duty.”
That was all Varius could take of the lunatic’s ranting. If Reverend John wanted to appease God with his work, well, he’d just have to give him a bigger prize.
In one swift move, Varius dropped from the ceiling with a loud thump and an ever louder growl. Everyone in the room turned their attention to him.
“Let her go,” he said, unslinging his carbine. “Or I’m going to hurry you along on your meeting with God.”
Several men took aim but stopped when the Reverend held his hands in the air.
“Oh, look,” the Reverend shouted, his face almost joyous, “the abomination has come to stop his woman from being cleansed. The Lord has delivered him to us as a test.”