Brian Freeman - Spilled Blood

That was the horror Michael Altman was facing. How could you ever trust your neighbor again, when you knew that there were people on earth capable of this?

Chris closed the folder, and he closed his eyes. He steadied his breathing. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

Altman held up the bag of flash drives. ‘There’s more. These are even worse. Videos. It’s unspeakable.’

Chris had a hard time conceiving of something that could be worse than what he had already seen. ‘I can’t begin to explain it. I wish I could.’

Altman held up another folder. ‘His buyers are numbered rather than named. The drop shipments go to post office boxes. We’ll have to identify the customers one by one.’

‘They’ll go to prison.’

‘Of course, they will, but that’s not the point. Look at how many people are on this list! These are people with family and friends. People who show a normal face to the world. People who profess to worship the same God I do and live by the same ideals.’ His voice was eloquent in its pain, disbelief, and desperation.

‘Without Kirk’s murder, you might never have found this place,’ Chris said. ‘Now you can put these people away.’

Altman shook his head. ‘I could have gone the rest of my life without seeing the inside of that garage.’

Chris studied the storage locker beyond the police tape. The cops were carrying out guns. ‘Someone ransacked Kirk’s house. Do you think this is what they were looking for?’

‘Possibly.’

‘I know you’re searching for Johan, but I don’t think he killed Kirk. He’s not the one.’

‘Now that I’ve seen this, I think you may be right.’ Altman hesitated and then added, ‘There’s something I failed to mention last night. Where we found Kirk’s body, we found another body, too. A skeleton, partially unburied. Kirk had apparently been digging it up when he was attacked.’

‘Do you have any idea who it was?’

Altman shrugged. ‘The forensics will take a long time, but I can think of one person who went missing at an opportune time in the last few years.’

Chris thought about it. ‘Vernon Clay.’

‘I’m not a betting man, but that would be my bet.’

‘If he was dead all this time, then he’s obviously not Aquarius.’

‘Yes, and if he’s dead, and Kirk killed him, I doubt he acted on his own.’

‘Florian wanted him eliminated,’ Chris said.

‘Again, that’s a possibility. Not that I’m ever likely to prove it.’

‘So who is Aquarius?’ Chris asked. ‘What’s he planning?’

‘I don’t know, but I’m beginning to think there really has been a monstrous cover-up at Mondamin. Because of it, Aquarius seems to be bent on taking revenge against Florian and exposing his sins. The question is why and what he’s planning next.’

‘Do you think Aquarius killed Kirk? Is that part of the plan?’

Altman turned his head toward Chris. ‘If he did, and if he used that gun, that means one thing.’

‘He started with Ashlynn,’ Chris said.

46

The rattle of the van awakened Julia Steele. They were moving.

She was blindfolded, but she could tell from the paler shade of darkness on her eyes that they had left the cold garage and were out in the daylight. The bumps of the road pummeled her body like tiny punches. Her seat was reclined. Her hands were tied securely and uncomfortably behind her back, but her feet were free.

She didn’t know whether to be afraid. The man who had taken her from her bedroom had been surprisingly tender. He’d apologized as he tied her up. He’d asked about her comfort. When it was obvious she was cold, he’d taken a blanket and positioned it gently over her body. His voice wasn’t cruel. Even so, she was a prisoner, taken against her will.

They’d spent the night in the cramped confines of the van. They were inside; she could tell from the quiet, and she’d heard the slam of a garage door. He’d been with her the whole time, in the driver’s seat. He hadn’t touched her. Despite herself, she’d fallen in and out of sleep, but whenever she awakened she felt his presence beside her, and she heard him breathing. As far as she knew, he hadn’t slept at all.

‘Who are you?’ she asked quietly.

He waited a long time before he replied. ‘You know who I am, Mrs. Steele.’

‘Aquarius.’

‘Yes.’

‘That tells me nothing,’ she said.

He was silent again. The truck rumbled on the road, but the pavement felt smooth, like a highway. She wondered where he was taking her. And why.

‘Aquarius is the water bearer,’ he went on.

‘I’m a Christian, not an astrologer.’

‘As am I.’

‘A Christian wouldn’t do what you’ve done.’

His voice remained measured and calm. ‘You’re not a woman to offer lectures on morality.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You’re married to Florian Steele,’ he said.

‘So?’

‘So he created something evil and immoral. I intend to destroy it.’

‘Florian has done great things,’ she insisted. ‘People who would have starved in this world are alive because of my husband. Is that a sin? Are you one of those anarchists who believe we can go back to the Garden of Eden by wandering around naked?’

‘No.’

‘Then why do you have a vendetta against Florian?’

‘Your husband took away my life, and now I will take away his.’

Julia sucked in her breath. He said it with a matter-of-fact sincerity. ‘Who are you?’ she asked again. When the man next to her was silent, she said, ‘You’re not Vernon Clay. I’d recognize his voice.’

‘So you do know.’

‘What?’

‘You know what Vernon Clay did.’

Julia didn’t want to pretend anymore. They had made a mistake, but she had never dreamed that God would make them pay and pay and pay.

‘Vernon was insane,’ she told him. ‘Yes, it’s true, Vernon spent years poisoning the groundwater near St. Croix. It was horrifying, but we didn’t know it was happening . If you want to believe the deaths there were connected to the chemicals, so be it. When Florian found out about Vernon, he made sure it stopped . He got rid of Vernon, and he cleaned up the land.’

‘Then he covered up the truth. He lied. He cheated. He destroyed.’

‘What choice did he have? Let the company be wiped out by the actions of one deranged psychopath? Would that have been fair to the employees and their families? To the people of Barron? To the farmers?’

‘He killed.’

‘Florian would never do that.’

‘You don’t know him as well as you think. Or have you deceived yourself all these years?’

‘ Let me go. Stop this.’

Julia struggled against her bonds, but they held her tight. She was angry now. She wanted to escape. She wriggled in her seat and tried to reach the door handle, not caring if she spilled out of the moving van on to the highway. She found the indentation in the door where it should have been, but the handle had been removed. There was no way out.

She sank onto the seat cushion, breathing heavily, kicking the underside of the dashboard in frustration. The man next to her didn’t say a thing. He made no move to stop her.

‘So why are you doing this?’ she asked quietly. ‘Are you related to one of the children in St. Croix? If so, I am very sorry. It may mean nothing, but our hearts broke with every death.’

Aquarius was silent.

Julia felt a shiver of fear for the first time. She realized that calm, tender men can also be deadly. ‘Tell me something. Be honest with me. Should I make my peace with God?’

‘You mean, am I planning to kill you?’

‘Yes.’

‘What you say to God is up to you, Mrs. Steele, but I have no intention of harming you. I need you to bring your husband to me, and then you’ll be free to go.’