“Guide us, good Jesus,” he continued, raising his face to the darkening sky. “Guide us in the ways in which we can strike the devil from your green earth and vanquish the defilers. Lend us your wrath so that we might turn the tide of corruption that even now laps at our shore. Give us the strength and the means so we can tear the skin from the sinners and cast them down into Hell.”
“Amen,” said the boys.
“We give you Momma, a good, proud, strong woman who loved you more’n anyone, and we will not weep. We give her to you so that you may in turn give us what we need to smite the Men of the World, the coyotes that sniff around our borders. We give our beloved wife, and mother, to you, so that you might make her a saint and return her to us as an angel who would instill in our veins the power we need to prevail. Hear us, our merciful God…Amen.”
“Amen.”
Papa lowered his gaze from the mercurial sky. You were a pure soul, he added in silence. And I’ll miss our talks, and your strength. He looked up, and wiped a hand over his eyes. The breeze dried quickly the dampness beneath them, and for this he was grateful. “Jeremiah,” he said. “Is there anythin’ you wish to add?”
The big man returned his gaze, held it for a moment, then looked back down at the grave. He did not reply.
Papa watched him carefully, then turned to Aaron, who stood solemnly by his side. “Go down. I want you to get all our weapons together. Feed your brothers, and see to Luke. Clean him up. We’ll need him. Then send Joshua up here to keep watch. Before it’s dark, I want you all ready and waitin’ for ’em to come.”
“How do you know they’re comin’, Papa?”
He thought about this for a moment, then ruffled the boy’s hair. “God sent an angel to whisper in my ear while I was sleepin’.”
“How many do you think will come?”
“Enough. Now you best get movin’ while the light’s with us.”
Aaron nodded, and set off down the mountain, herding the twins ahead of him. Papa waited until they were gone, then walked over to stand beside Krall.
“I know you’re hurtin’,” he told the big man. “And that’s only right. But if you don’t end up seein’ where all this is supposed to lead you, all that pain’s for nothin’.”
Krall continued to stare down at the ground. His lips moved slightly, but the words were lost to the wind, if indeed he was making any sound at all.
Papa studied him for a few moments, then clamped a hand on his shoulder. “The coyotes are comin’,” he said. “Just like Momma knew they would. They took her from you, and I’m sure she’d be proud to know you joined us in wipin’ them off the earth.”
Without another word, he turned his back and left Krall to his mourning. It would pass, Papa knew. And when it did, it would leave only the rage.
This at least, they could use.
“Get out of the car.”
Finch sighed, and rolled up the window. Stubbing out his cigarette, he was not entirely surprised when his door opened without him touching it. He would not have been any more surprised if Kara had reached in and slapped him. But she didn’t. Instead, she held the door and waited for him to step out into the rain before slamming it shut and poking a finger in his chest.
“What did I tell you? What did I say? Were you listening?”
He glanced back over his shoulder to her car, where inside, he saw the ghostly shape of Claire watching from behind the reflected sky. He turned back to Kara.
“I told her she couldn’t come. And she isn’t. At least, not with me.”
Kara’s eyes blazed. “That’s not enough.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to undo what’s already done. She can’t deal with this kind of shit. Now she thinks there’s some kind of merit to your suicide mission. Thinks maybe if she tags along it’ll help her make peace with being the only one to get out alive. She’s vulnerable, and looking for somewhere to put the anger.”
“So am I.”
“Oh fuck you,” Kara said, and this time he knew she was going to hit him. But he didn’t move, and the strike didn’t come. Inside she turned, cursed under her breath and walked a few steps, then turned.
“This is typical you.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Say nothing. Go home. Check yourself into a mental hospital. Do something other than this.”
“I can’t.”
She stepped close again, the fury making her face ugly. “No, you can’t, can you, and the last thing you’d ever consider would be getting help. It’s far easier for you to fuck up everybody else’s lives.”
Finch folded his arms. “Look, I’m sorry. I told you I wasn’t letting this go. I tried to talk some sense into Claire but—”
“Talk sense into Claire?” Kara raged. “How could that happen when you don’t have any sense yourself? Think your age and experience makes you wiser? Sorry, Finch, but you’re still a kid, a goddamn brat with a temper and everybody has to pay for it but you. Finch the Almighty versus the World.”
That annoyed him, and this time she couldn’t hang up on him before he got to defend himself. “Hey, I’ve already paid for it, all right?” he countered. “I lost my brother. You got Claire back, so don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, or what’s wrong with the way that I feel because you haven’t a fucking clue.”
She smiled bitterly. “Danny. I know you loved him, Finch, but if it weren’t Danny, it would be some other cause. Someone or something needs to be destroyed because God forbid you should look in instead of out for a change. Well,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Do what you have to do, I guess. But sooner or later you’re going to run out of mirrors to shoot at. Then what will you do?”
“Wow…watching Oprah again, are we?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know who you are, Finch. Not sure I ever did. But I recognize this part of you, and I should. It’s why I left you. That was something else you destroyed.”
“This isn’t about me, Kara.”
“Really? You sure about that?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded slowly, a grim smile on her lips. “I’m sure you believe it too.” She stepped past him, headed for her car. “Stay the hell away from Claire,” she said without looking back. “Or I’ll call the cops. And don’t think I won’t if it means protecting her from you.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but the glare she threw him before getting into the car dissuaded him, leaving him standing alone on the street. Only then did he find his voice.
“I’m not the bad guy,” he said, and wondered who he was trying to convince.
After a moment, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Beau’s number. “Hey,” he said, when Beau answered. “We’re leaving.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
“Why?”
“I just spoke to Kara.”
“And?”
“And I don’t trust her not to put the kibosh on this whole gig just to piss me off.”
“Savin’ your life would piss you off?”
“You going to be ready to go, or what?”
“Give me an hour, okay? I’m standin’ here with my uncle Leroy. Negotiatin’ the acquisition of the tools we’ll need.”
“Remember, John Kaplan’s footing the bill so don’t feel obliged to be frugal.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll pick you up at your place in an hour.”