Darkwind: Ancient Enemy 2 (46 page)

David cried harder. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you too, but I have to go now.”

David held on to her, sobbing.

“Okay,” Begay said and even his eyes were wet with tears. “We have to go. I need to get Agent Palmer to a hospital.”

David let Stella go and he climbed up into the passenger seat of Begay’s Ford Bronco.

“Buckle your seatbelt,” Stella told him, wiping away at her tears.

David smiled at her and then Stella shut his door. She watched David slip the seatbelt over him. Stella looked away from David.

Joe walked up to Begay. “Thank you,” he said. “You’re doing the right thing.” And then he said something else in Navajo that Stella and Cole couldn’t understand.

Begay looked down at his necklace and he took it off. “Billy Nez gave it to me before I came out here,” Begay answered Joe in English. “He said it would keep me safe.”

“May I open it?” Joe asked.

Begay handed it to him.

Joe studied the silver and turquoise charm on the necklace for a long moment and then he twisted it open. He pulled out a small lock of hair tied in a tight braid with a thin piece of leather string wrapped around it. He held it up so everyone could see.

“What is it?” Cole asked.

“It’s a lock of David’s hair.”

Cole looked confused and he glanced over at David who waited in Captain Begay’s truck.

“No,” Joe said, smiling. “This lock of hair is from the
other
David … the one before this David. This is what kept those snakes and spiders away from you. It’s what kept you safe on your journey to this ghost town. It’s been passed down in Billy Nez’s family.”

Begay nodded solemnly as Joe handed the necklace and lock of hair back to him.

“I will make sure it gets back to Billy Nez,” Begay said and then he walked to his truck and got in the driver’s side. He started the truck and drove away.

• • •

An hour and a half later Stella and Cole sat in Joe Blackhorn’s trailer. They were both exhausted but energized at the same time. Cole was ready to get on the road soon. He didn’t entirely trust Begay’s word that they wouldn’t come after him and Stella. And even if Begay’s word was true, Cole still didn’t trust the FBI agent. When Agent Palmer woke up, he would come after them for sure. But they probably had at least twenty-four hours before that happened … at least he hoped so.

Joe prepared a big dinner and they drank more tea and coffee. Stella talked with Joe about archaeology and past civilizations and the history of the Navajo. She seemed surprised about some of the things she’d learned from Joe. It was a good dinner. For the first time in such a long time, they felt safe.

• • •

Later that night Cole and Stella lay on the living room floor covered up with the blankets even though it was warm inside of Joe’s trailer. Joe had gone to the back to his bedroom, followed by his dog.

It was warm inside the trailer. It was quiet. They were safe. But Cole wouldn’t truly feel safe until he was out of the country.

He asked Stella what her plans were now and he was surprised when she asked him about Costa Rica.

“What about your job?” he asked her. “Your career?”

Her head lay on the pillow, her blond hair spread out on it, her skin so white in the moonlight filtering in through the open blinds over the windows. She smiled in the darkness, her eyes twinkling. “My career is over. I’ll never get hired by another university after this. If I go back, the cops will arrest me. They will interrogate me until I give you up. They will ask me question after question about what happened and they’ll never believe me. They’ll charge me with
something.
”

Cole nodded. He agreed with her about that.

She smiled at him. “I don’t see that I have many other options besides running away with you … if you want me with you.”

Cole smiled and nodded at her. “I do.”

“So you feel like having some company?”

“More than you know,” he said and kissed her.

She kissed him back, and then they looked at each other for a moment. She smiled at him.

Moments later exhaustion took over and they both fell asleep in the darkness.

• • •

Cole and Stella got up early the next morning. Joe had offered one of his pickup trucks to them. He told them they could take it down to a small airport near Page, Arizona and leave it there. He would have someone pick his truck up for him in a few days.

On the way to the airport, Cole planned on calling V.J. and asking him to have a small airplane and pilot waiting for them. He would also have V.J. create new I.D.’s for them so they could fly out of Phoenix down to Costa Rica. V.J. owed Cole a lot, and this would more than make them even now.

Cole left a pack of money hidden in Joe’s refrigerator and they left Joe’s home as the sun was just coming up. They got into his pickup truck and started it, then drove down the long and rutted trail away from his place. They passed the pickup truck they had stolen and driven here. Cole maneuvered around the truck carefully on the hard-packed dirt, and then they drove away, leaving it behind.

Stella stared out the passenger window as they drove. She was happy now. Still tired and sore, but happy. She hoped David would do well. She knew she would never be able to have any contact with him again, but that was okay. She wanted him to have a normal life now, and she didn’t want her presence to ever bring back those terrible memories of his parents’ death and everything else that had happened afterwards.

She’d meant what she’d said about finding a new life down in Costa Rica. She felt the same way Joe did now, that science had let her down in some way. There was still so much out there in the world to see, so many things to discover, so many more mysteries that science didn’t have the answers to.

But she didn’t think she could completely abandon her love of archaeology. She could explore ruins in Central America. She could write papers and publish on websites. She could write books. For the first time in a long time she felt some hope, she felt like the future was wide open for her … and it felt good.

Iron Springs—hospital

C
aptain Begay visited Special Agent Palmer in his hospital room. He was recovering fully from the rattlesnake bites—the anti-venom that Begay had given him had saved his life. The ceiling collapsing down on him was a different story; he had two broken ribs and he had bruises all over his body. But he seemed to be in good spirits despite his injuries.

Begay set a small potted cactus down next to Palmer on the table beside him. Palmer lay in the hospital bed watching him. The TV was on across the room, mounted high up on the wall, but Palmer had the sound turned all the way down. There was a view of the desert out the window.

“Thanks for the plant,” Palmer said.

Begay nodded. He smiled at Palmer. “They tell me that you’ll live.”

Palmer nodded. “Doesn’t feel like it,” he said and grinned.

The two men were silent for a long moment.

“What about Stella and that guy she was with?” Palmer asked.

Begay just stared at him.

Palmer sighed like he already knew the answer. “They got away, didn’t they?”

Begay didn’t confirm nor deny.

Palmer looked away from Begay at the window. He stared out at the desert for a long moment. “I saw some things I never would’ve believed,” he said. “I can’t explain what happened. I … I don’t even know how I could.”

Begay remained silent.

Palmer looked back at the big captain. “But if they got away, then they got away. I’m not going after them. There’s no evidence, nothing to tie them to the crimes. My guess is that they’re heading out of the country.”

Begay just shrugged. “Not my problem anymore.”

Palmer smiled. “Me either. I’m going to retire. My wife, she always begged me to retire before I killed myself with this job. Maybe she’s right. Maybe it’s finally time to quit.”

Begay nodded and stood up from the chair. “I have to go. I hope you get better soon.”

“I will.” He watched Begay walk to the door. “At least the nightmares have stopped.”

Begay stopped at the door and looked back at Palmer, waiting for an explanation.

“I kept having these nightmares,” Palmer said. “I saw that thing we saw in the ghost town … or just a glimpse of it … in my dreams. It was chasing me. And I had the feeling that if it ever caught me …” He let his words hang in the air.

“Well, it didn’t catch you,” Begay said and he left.

• • •

Begay left the hospital and got in his truck. As he drove, he thought of Palmer’s dream, of the Darkwind chasing him in his dream. And then he thought of his wife’s dream, the one she’d had before he had left with Palmer to go out to Joe Blackhorn’s property. It was like they’d had the same dream. The Darkwind had been coming for all of them … who knew what it would’ve done if David hadn’t sent it back.

Begay shuddered at the thought.

He drove out to David’s aunt’s house. He had called Awenita earlier to let her know he would be coming by. He just wanted to see how David was doing. She told him David was doing really well considering what had happened, but it would be a long road to full recovery. David was still quiet and withdrawn.

Begay parked alongside the road in front of Awenita’s home and got out. He went inside and talked with Awenita for a moment, and then he talked with David.

David was more talkative now, but he was still a quiet child. He was still scarred by what had happened. Probably always would be. Begay felt a profound sadness inside of him. Why did all of this have to happen to a little boy like David? Why did this kind of responsibility have to fall on the shoulders of such a small child?

Who knew the way the world really worked.

At least it was over. At least David was safe.

At least they were all safe.

• • •

Half an hour later Begay left David’s new home with his aunt. David surprised the captain by giving him a hug before he left. The boy squeezed him tight for a few seconds before letting him go. Begay smiled at David. He knew then that David was going to be alright someday soon.

Begay walked to his truck parked across the road. On the way to his truck he heard a noise in the desert brush. He stopped and watched as a coyote crept out of the brush. The coyote just stood there, watching Begay for a moment.

Was there an intelligence in that coyote’s eyes? Begay wondered.

Was the Ancient Enemy back?

But then the coyote ran away, bolting back into the brush.

No,
Begay told himself as he got into his truck.
It was gone. The Ancient Enemy was really gone.

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Mark Lukens has been writing since the second grade when his teacher called his parents in for a conference because the ghost story he’d written had her a little concerned.

Since then, he’s had several stories published and four screenplays optioned by producers in Hollywood. One script is in development to become a film. He’s the author of many bestselling books including: Ancient Enemy, Descendants of Magic, The Summoning, Night Terrors, Sightings, The Exorcist’s Apprentice, What Lies Below, Devil’s Island, Darkwind: Ancient Enemy 2, The Darwin Effect, Ghost Town: a novella, and A Dark Collection: 12 Scary Stories. He’s a proud member of the Horror Writers Association.

He grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida. But after many travels and adventures, he settled down near Tampa, Florida with his wonderful wife and son … and a stray cat they adopted.

He loves to hear from readers! You can find him on Facebook at Mark Lukens Books, and on Twitter @marklukensbooks. You can follow him on his blog at
www.marklukensbooks.wordpress.com
and he can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]

Read the first book in the series. Ancient Enemy … it’s out there and it’s waiting … you have to give it what it wants.

www.amazon.com/dp/B00FD4SP8M