The Angel of Death (The Soul Summoner Book 3) (8 page)

I heard a faint “not to” come from the other side of her.

“You owe Ms. Sloan an apology,” Lara said.

His eyes lifted just above Lara’s knees. “Sowwy.”

“It’s all right,” I told him. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Without another word, he ran from the room again.
 

Lara sighed. “Kids.”

“I’ve never really been around kids.” I ran my finger along the rim of my glass. “I come from a really small family.”

“Only child?” Kathy asked.

“Yes. I was adopted, and my parents never had any children of their own.”

Lara laughed. “This circus must scare the bejeezus out of you.”

I shook my head. “Not at all. It’s been really nice. It’s sort of like being in a Hallmark movie.”

Lara put her hand on my forearm. “Don’t be fooled. It’s sometimes more like the Bundys than the Bradys around here.”

The back door of the kitchen swung open and Nathan, his dad and brother, stepped inside. Kathy jumped up from the bar. “Take those nasty boots off on the porch! You’re not tracking mud and snow in here!”

They all grumbled and walked backward outside again. A moment later, Nathan came in and pulled off the toboggan that covered his head. He smiled at me, then his eyes widened when they fell on my hair. “Morning.”

I shook my head. “It’s not my fault this time. I tried.”

He pointed at my glass. “What is this?”

“Orange juice. It’s amazing.”

Nathan grinned. “Is vodka in it?”

Beside me, Lara laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “How was the
hunt
?” I asked using air quotes around the word
.

He winked. “It was cold.” He pointed to the ceiling. “I’m going to hop into the shower. Do you need anything in the bathroom?”

“No, but I’m not sure the shower is a great idea.” I cringed. “Something may be wrong with the water heater.”

He looked confused for a second, then he laughed. “Oh! You got in late.”

Lara patted my back. “The curse of big families.”

“Did we run out of hot water on you?” his dad asked as he came in from the porch.

I was shocked. “I guess so.”

Chuck was still dusting snow off his hat as he walked in. “Gotta get up early if you want a hot shower around here.”

Kathy glanced at the clock. “It’s probably had time to warm up now. Karen and Nick took the kids to see his parents earlier, so no one has been in the bathrooms.”

Nathan squeezed my shoulder. “You OK?’

I smiled. “Yes.”

“I’ll be upstairs,” he said and left the kitchen.
 

“Nathan!” his mother called out.

He stuck his blond head back through the door.

“You’ll have to reset the breaker for the bathroom.” She looked at her husband. “It blew again this morning while Sloan was getting ready.”

“That explains a lot,” Nathan teased.

She pointed at him. “You leave her alone.”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” Then he was gone.

James poured a cup of coffee. “I’ll fix it tomorrow.”

Kathy rolled her eyes. “Tomorrow,” she mimicked. “It’s always tomorrow.”

James kissed her on the cheek as he walked by to the den behind us. He turned on the television to the morning news. I hated the news. With all the evil in the world, it was like watching the inside of the jail through a thin piece of glass. I shuddered and turned away.

In my back pocket, my cell phone vibrated. I pulled it out and saw my dad’s picture on the screen. “Hey, Dad,” I answered.

“Hey, sweetheart. Are you with Nathan?” he asked.

“Sort of. He’s upstairs. What’s up?” I asked.

“The FBI was just here at my house. They were looking for you,” he said.
 

My spine went rigid. “Are you kidding? Did they say why?”

“No, but it didn’t seem like a social call,” he said. “She left a card. Agent Sharvell Silvers.”

My chest tightened. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “OK. Thanks for telling me, Dad.”

“How are things there? Do you like Nathan’s family?”

“Yeah. They’re great. You’d like them too.”

“I have no doubt,” he said. “I’ll let you go. Just thought you should be aware.”

“Thanks. I love you.”

“I love you. Bye.”

Kathy put her hand on my arm. She must’ve noticed when my face fell. “Is everything all right?”

I forced a nod. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Slowly, I pushed my chair back and stood. “Excuse me,” I said to the group before walking out the door. I took the steps two at a time till I reached Nathan’s bedroom. The door was open, and I could hear the shower running in the bathroom.

I knocked on the bathroom door. “Nathan, get out of the shower!”

“What?” he shouted.

“Come out here! I need to talk to you!”

The water shut off, and I sat on the edge of the bed with my knees bouncing like they’d been electrified. The door opened and Nathan stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. He wore a pair of black dress pants and a belt. That was it.

“Sloan?”

I jerked my eyes up to meet his and immediately felt my cheeks heat up.

He was drying his head with a towel. “Are you blushing, Ms. Jordan?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

I held up my phone. “Put on a shirt. We need to talk.”

A lone water droplet slid from his chest down the center line of his stomach. I thought about catching it with my finger, or my tongue.

Sweet Jesus.

“Sloan?” he asked again. This time he was laughing.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. “My dad called.”

His brow scrunched together as he walked to his suitcase. “Congratulations. You got me out of the shower to tell me that?”

 
“The FBI showed up at my dad’s house looking for me,” I said, my voice elevating with every syllable. I watched him pluck a white t-shirt from his bag. “It was that agent from Texas.”
 

He stopped with one arm in and one arm out of the shirt. “Silvers?”

I nodded. “Why would she come all the way to North Carolina looking for me?”

He didn’t speak. Which was
never
a good sign with him.

“Nathan, I don’t want to go to jail!”

His eyes snapped to mine. “You’re not going to jail. They’re probably following up with you because they’re still looking for Abigail.”

“That’s not the reason. She wouldn’t get on a plane for that.” I pointed at him. “I’ll bet anything she knows we were lying.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “You’re willing to bet
anything
?”

“Nathan! This is serious!”

He sat next to me. “Maybe, but don’t jump to conclusions. It’s a holiday. For all we know, she might have family in Asheville and she wanted to bring you a fruitcake.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” I dropped my face into my hands. “Nathan, what will we do?”

He was quiet for a moment, and he put his hand on mine. “I’ll find out what’s going on as soon as we get home.” He squeezed my fingers and let out a deep sigh. “But honestly, I don’t have the headspace to worry about it today.”

My shoulders slumped. I’d completely forgotten what the day would hold for him. My bottom lip poked out. “You’re right. I’m sorry for being insensitive.”

He released my hand, then stood. “Don’t apologize.”

“Are you wearing a suit today?” I asked.

“No. I’ve got a button up and a black sweater,” he said.

I scrunched up my nose.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I forgot my shoes, so I’m wearing my pretty black dress with my ugly brown boots.”

His shoulders shook with laughter. “Of course you are.”

“What time are we leaving here?”

He looked at his watch. “Probably in about an hour. The service is at one.”

* * *

The graveside service for Ashley was held at a small cemetery outside town. Nathan and I rode with his parents in the back of their SUV. In the snow, James had to use the four-wheel drive to make it up some steep hills. No one spoke in the car, allowing me plenty of time to consider the implications of the FBI’s visit to find me.

When we arrived at the cemetery, about fifty people had gathered under a green tent surrounded by sprays of flowers. A shiny mahogany casket rested over a giant hole in the ground.

It reminded me of my mother.

The moment I stepped out onto the cemetery path, a strange sensation came over me.
Death.
Warren had once tried to verbalize his ability to detect the presence of the dead. He said it felt like a vacuum. It was an accurate description. Death pulled at my attention in every single direction.
 

I felt it because the baby felt it.

Nathan’s hand on my back snapped me out of a daze. “I’m going to go talk to some people,” he said.

My smile was gentle. “Do what you have to do. Don’t worry about me.”

He straightened the angel pin on the lapel of my coat. “Are you warm enough?”

I lowered my voice. “My boots may be hideous, but they’re nice and toasty.”

He laughed softly, but his eyes were sad.
 

I wandered the grounds as Nathan and his family mingled with people I didn’t know and would probably never see again. It was eerie to be able to distinguish the empty grave plots from the occupied ones as I left my tracks in the untouched layer of snow. Unlike Warren, the awareness creeped me out, and I suddenly realized how far I’d strayed from the group. Turning on my heel, I double-timed my pace back to the tent.

Rows of chairs faced the casket, and I sat in the back and watched mourners come by and pay their respects. But something beyond the ornate box caught my attention.
 

Transparent against the scenery, three rippled figures hovered near the casket. Everyone but me was ignorant of their presence. Family members passed by and through them undeterred. It was chilling. Even more disturbing was, despite their lack of faces, I knew they were watching me.

They didn’t strike me as sinister, but I got up and backed out of the tent nonetheless. Their gazes followed me, but they didn’t leave their post. It was like they were guarding her, but I didn’t know why.

As I watched them, my mind went to dark places. Had the angels been there in the woods where she was discarded and hidden for ten long years? Were they standing watch during her rape and torture? Did they really do nothing to intervene?

With everything I had experienced in the past few months, I could no longer believe the supernatural existed only in fairytales and Bible stories. God was real, and I knew it. But the more I found out, the more pissed off I became.

A tall, stout man who looked more like a politician than a minister, walked up in front of the chairs, clutching a brown Bible in his hands. “Everyone, I’d like to ask that the family please be seated. Friends and loved ones, please gather close for a word of prayer and a message of thankfulness for the life of sweet Ashley McNamara.”

The crowd filed in, and I kept my distance near one of the back poles. Then Nathan waved to me from the front and motioned me forward. When I approached, I saw he’d saved a seat for me between him and his brother. I squeezed my way across the cramped second row and into the seat beside him.

The pastor opened with a prayer, then read a few letters written by various friends shortly after Ashley disappeared. Nathan’s body tensed next to me, and when I looked at him, his face was frozen, staring ahead. I rested my head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his hand around mine.

I squeezed.

He squeezed back.
 

The pastor hugged his Bible to his chest. “Can I be honest?”

Everyone looked up at him.

He let out a heavy sigh and slowly shook his head. “For the life of me, I can’t understand this tragedy.” He took a step closer to Nathan’s parents. “James, Kathy, I’ve looked at my little girls this week and wondered how a God who claims to love us like a father loves his children could let something so horrific happen. I’m sure you’ve wondered the same.”

Kathy wiped tears away with a cloth handkerchief as they both nodded.

The pastor looked out over the crowd. “We’ve all asked this question, haven’t we?”

A few people answered out loud in agreement while others bobbed their heads.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly don’t know why. No other memorial I have ever preached has stirred my doubt as this one has.”

I withered with disappointment in my chair.

He held up his Bible. “But I know a few other things.” He pointed to the casket. “I know Ashley’s not here.”

“That’s true,” I whispered to no one in particular.

The pastor tapped his chest. “This body—this temporal, decaying, grayer-every-day body—is just a container.” He lifted the Bible again. “And if I believe what this book tells me, then I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord! This life is only the beginning. Jesus told his disciples, ‘
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me
.’” He looked around the group. “Ashley hasn’t been missing all these years.” He pointed up. “She’s been at the Father’s house.”

Kathy dabbed at her eyes again, and her husband rubbed her back. Chuck reached up and squeezed her shoulder.

The preacher approached the family. “While I can’t give you a reason why this happened, I can assure you this wasn’t God’s will. However, if we allow Him to be in this grief with us, He will use even this to do His good work. He promises us that. We won’t see it for a while because right now our vision is obscured through the darkened glass of this world. But someday, when we stand face-to-face with Him in eternity, we will see clearly. We will see how even this evil, which was meant to destroy us, He used for good.” He held his hands out. “Let us pray.”

When he finished, a man with a guitar sang
Amazing Grace,
and Ashley’s childhood friend read a poem. After a final prayer, each family member placed a single red rose on the lid of the casket. I held Nathan’s hand during his turn.