Kate Carlisle - One Book In The Grave

Five minutes later, the van pulled to a stop and I heard the driver’s door open and slam shut. Seconds later, the back doors were flung open and I sprang forward. Directly into Crystal.

Crystal screamed and threw her hands up. I tackled her and we both fell hard onto the ground. I scrambled to my feet and took off running. But it was pitch-black and there were trees everywhere. We were in the thick woods near the top of a hill and the moon was behind a heavy cloud. I couldn’t see a thing, but I kept running, anyway, my hands out in front of me for protection. I bumped into a tree and careened around another one, but kept going. I wasn’t quick enough, though, and after another thirty feet or so, Crystal grabbed my jacket and yanked me backward and down to the ground.

“I’m really sorry, Brooklyn,” she said. “I hate to hurt you, but you need to stop running away.”

Strangely enough, she sounded sincere.

I had to shake my head to clear it. With one hand Crystal pulled me to my feet, and it took me a few steps to get my equilibrium back. That’s when I noticed the deadly-looking gun she held pointed at me.

“Crystal, why are you doing this?”

“I heard you through the window of the cabin and saw you take Solomon away. I followed your car down to the restaurant to see if I could help him, but the police were already there. So I sent Melody over to distract you.” The gun shook as she spoke and I knew she was nervous. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but I knew Crystal wasn’t really a bad person. Not like Solomon or Angelica.

“Crystal, let’s talk about this. I can contact the police for you. Don’t get yourself in trouble by kidnapping me.”

“I have to think. Walk that way and let me think.” She nudged the gun in the direction she wanted me to go and I turned and started walking. I stumbled over a tree root but managed to right myself. Feeling achy now, I clutched my jacket closer to me-and remembered my pockets were full of Hershey’s Kisses. I pulled one out and dropped it on the ground, then repeated the same thing every fifty steps or so.

Crystal put the gun in her pocket and pulled me along as though she knew exactly where she was going, probably because she did. I couldn’t see a thing in this deep part of the woods, but Crystal seemed to know her way without the aid of moonlight. She was as good a survivalist as anyone in the Hollow.

I prayed Derek wasn’t too far behind. If he couldn’t follow the chocolate-kisses trail, he wasn’t the man I knew him to be. That thought kept me going as I tried to assimilate everything. “Did you kidnap Emily?”

“I didn’t really kidnap her,” she said. “I’m just doing Solomon a favor. It’s for the greater good. I prayed over it, and I shared my blood with the earth.”

“You shared your blood? How does that work?”

“A bloodletting is considered a sweet sacrifice by the Great Ogun.”

After a pause, I said, “So you cut yourself? Is that what you do in your church?”

“Only in times of uncertainty, when you find yourself at a crossroads.”

“So you cut yourself to find answers?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes Father Ogun requires blood sacrifice in exchange.”

“In exchange for what?”

“Knowledge. Grace. Power. Whatever you’re seeking.”

A sense of dread overwhelmed me. “What did you mean when you said you’re doing a favor for Solomon? Did he tell you to hurt Emily?”

“No, of course not,” she said in surprise. “Solomon wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

She was so wrong, but I said nothing.

“It was my decision to take Emily,” she explained. “I’m using her to lure Max Adams out into the open. And then we’ll see what happens.”

So Emily was still alive. Thank God. But what did she have in mind for Max?

“Why do you want to lure Max into the open?”

“Because Solomon detests Max. Max stole Angelica from Solomon and it made Solomon crazy. I couldn’t figure out why he cared so much about her because we both know she’s a…well, a you-know-what. But after talking to Solomon some more, I realized that his pain wasn’t about losing Angelica. It was because of Max Adams. He really hates that guy.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Exactly,” she said with enthusiasm. “Solomon was so unhappy, I began to pray for him. And that’s when Father Ogun revealed my true calling to me.”

“True calling?”

“Yes, I was meant to bring order and calm back to the church. And to accomplish that, I first had to clear the path.”

“Clear what path?”

“The path leading to peace. I had to take care of the obstacle in the path.”

“And that obstacle was…”

“Angelica.”

“You had to kill Angelica?” I said slowly.

“I had to,” she said. “I’m sorry, but Solomon was losing sleep; he was beside himself with anguish. He couldn’t concentrate on his church duties and it was beginning to affect the morale of the congregation, so I took the responsibility upon myself to help him.” She faltered, but then straightened up and kept walking. “It was my honor. He’s my deacon.”

“So you owe him your honor and duty.”

“Yes,” she said, sounding pleased that I’d caught on. “It’s all in the bible, Brooklyn. We can look there for all the answers.”

“Which answer are you referring to?”

“An eye for an eye,” she said.

I dropped another chocolate kiss and hoped for rescue. “What do you mean?”

She stopped to explain. “Max Adams took what Solomon wanted: Angelica. Now I will take what Max wants: Emily. This will cause Max to suffer, which will make Solomon happy. And it all provides blood for Ogun.”

Blood? So she intended to kill Emily? “But Emily is an innocent bystander. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”

“Ogun decrees. I obey, honor, and serve.” Crystal refused to talk to me after that, just continued walking me briskly through the darkness. Leaves slapped at my face and thick bushes pulled at my clothes.

I knew Crystal wasn’t crazy; deep down, she was a good person. But between the zealous advocacy for her church and her obsession with Solomon, she had lost her way.

I thought about what she’d said. An eye for an eye . Emily for Angelica. Was she serious about the blood sacrifice? Max had stolen Angelica’s heart from Solomon, so Crystal would…what? Cut Emily’s heart out and give it to Solomon? No, of course not. She wouldn’t really do that. My stomach turned at the very thought.

Still, the name of their church was the True Blood of Ogun. Was that what it meant-human sacrifice? True blood?

I almost laughed at the path my thoughts were taking. I didn’t believe it for a minute. No way was there a band of wacked-out churchgoers sacrificing humans in Dharma.

My imagination was running overtime. I took a deep breath and let it out, then did it again a few more times. I needed to focus my energies, clear my thoughts, and channel my mother. What would Mom do to keep from flipping out? I found my answer.

“If Solomon gets out of jail, do you think he’ll marry you?” I asked, determined to keep talking no matter what. That’s what Mom would do. Mom could talk so much and for so long, she could completely confuse the most clever kidnapper of all time-which Crystal wasn’t. “He might be afraid of you after you bonked him on the head with that frying pan.”

“He’s a man,” Crystal said calmly. “I’ll get him back.”

So she wasn’t denying the frying pan incident. And she was probably right about Solomon coming back to her, but not because he was a man. No, it was because Solomon was an idiot.

“He is weak,” she said, causing me to question whether she could read my thoughts. But we were talking about Solomon, after all. I guess even Crystal needed to keep it real.