Driven (30 page)

T
he NYPD wanted to know everything Gavin could tell them, but considering everyone’s condition and Gavin’s request for an immediate
ride home, they had thanked the weary group for their heroics and smuggled them away, hidden from the media. Gavin, Amy, and
Buck were chauffeured by an Officer Andrew Syrotick back to Long Island. During the ride Gavin tried once again to get through
to Katz, but again reached the machine with no response.

“Why don’t we get away for a while?” Amy said to Gavin as she snuggled under his arm in the backseat of the unmarked car.

“Sounds good to me,” Gavin said. “I’ve got some time coming to me. Did you have any place in mind?”

“Actually, yes. How about—”

“Wait!” Gavin interrupted. “Maybe this isn’t the place to be discussing future plans and destinations.” He motioned to the
front seat, where Buck was sitting with the wooden chest at his side. Gavin had no idea of Krogan’s capabilities, if any,
within his tortoise jail cell and was not sure if even Buck knew, but why take the chance?

Gavin settled Amy more comfortably at his side, and she closed her eyes and dozed while he spoke to Buck in the front seat.
Gavin had wanted her to go to the hospital for treatment for the rope cuts on her ankles and wrists and the deep bruise on
her chest, but even the mention of being separated from him and Buck appeared to terrify her.

“Why a turtle, Buck? Why not a snail or a slug or even a crocodile—something a little more fitting of the slime’s personality?”
he asked.

“It’s not a turtle. It’s a young tortoise.”

“Turtle, tortoise… either way it seems pretty ridiculous.”

Buck rearranged himself in his seat so he could look back at Gavin. “Tortoises live to a very old age, much older than either
you or I will—more than a hundred and fifty years under the right conditions. And I plan on making sure he gets the right
conditions. When Jesus cast the demons into a herd of swine, they immediately ran into the sea and drowned themselves to escape.
I wanted an animal that couldn’t commit suicide very easily. A tortoise. They are designed completely for defense. They can’t
hurt and they can’t easily be hurt.”

“So you feel good about this? As a prison, I mean.”

Buck paused thoughtfully. “With the power of prayer, Krogan will be like a lion in a den of Daniels.”

Gavin made a mental note to refresh himself on the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. “And without prayer?”

“We die.”

Officer Syrotick, who had been pleasantly quiet for most of the ride, glanced curiously at Buck and then back at the road.

“Where did you get the tortoise?” Gavin asked.

Buck paused, looked at the officer, then said, “The little fella’s on loan.”

“On loan? From where?”

“I have a good friend at the Bronx Zoo.”

Officer Syrotick had another glance at Buck and then at the wooden chest next to him.

“Does he know his tortoise is going to have…” Gavin glanced at Officer Syrotick. “… uh, some company with it when he gets
it back?”

“Of course.”

Gavin was surprised. “And he was okay with that?”

“He’s a friend and a brother in the faith. We share the same priorities, same enemies. He’ll keep a watchful eye on Jeremy.”

“Jeremy?”

“The tortoise’s name is Jeremy,” Buck said. “Most of the animals at the zoo have names, especially the endangered ones.”

“Endangered? Ha! If they only knew,” Gavin said.

“Have you ever done this before?” asked Amy, who had been following the conversation with her eyes closed.

“No,” Buck said. “Honestly, I was not even sure it could be done.”

“Then you came with a weapon without knowing if it had any ammo?”

“My faith grew after seeing the initial look on Krogan’s face when he saw the tortoise. I knew we had a fighting chance.”

“His face didn’t look too good when he first saw you, either,” Gavin said.

“That’s why I stayed on the boat’s floor. If he’d seen me he would have immediately made us his primary target or killed himself
with the shotgun.”

In the rearview mirror, Gavin could see Officer Syrotick frowning.

“Will Sabah recognize you, too?” Gavin asked, hoping the demon was at least still in the apartment.

“Somehow, they all recognize me. When I first started casting out demons many years ago, the recognition helped build my faith.
But I guess I was recognized one too many times, and my family…”

Gavin put his hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Without you, Buck, Amy and I would be dead now.”

B
y the way Officer Syrotick said good-bye, Gavin knew he thought they were all crazy. The policeman wasted no time in leaving
once they had gotten out of the car. Before today Gavin would have done the same. Ask no questions and get no answers you
really don’t want to hear. Syrotick’s story of their ride would no doubt make good coffee conversation back at the station.

At the door of Karianne’s apartment, Gavin told Amy to wait in the hallway with the wooden chest. Even though Krogan was supposedly
in the tortoise, Gavin still did not like the idea of leaving Amy alone, but better with a caged animal than a free one. Buck
was to keep back also, but at the ready.

Gavin quietly opened the door and cautiously stepped inside. He didn’t have his gun, which was probably still in the boat
somewhere. He felt naked without it. Not that it would do him any good with Sabah. Before taking another step he needed to
recognize Karianne and Sabah as being one and the same. He did not want to hurt the woman and he did not want the demon to
deceive him into letting down his guard.

The foyer was dim, the only light being a yellow glow creeping around the corner from the living room. The quiet was disturbing.
He imagined Katz and Steinman dead on the floor with Sabah waiting to pounce on him, or worse, Sabah gone.

Footsteps.

Gavin wasn’t sure what to expect, and looked to the door to make sure Buck was still close by.

“Aghhh!” Katz, who had just rounded the corner, jumped back, startled.

“Katz!” Gavin was startled as well. “You’re all right.”

“Pierce! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Katz said. The swollen left eye Karianne—or rather Sabah—had given him
earlier had gotten worse. It was now black and had spread over the bridge of his nose, making him look sadder than ever. “Pierce,
you look terrible.”

“Why didn’t you pick up the phone? I called a dozen times.”

“Sorry. I turned the ringer off and turned down the volume on the machine. I didn’t want to take the chance of any noise disturbing
and waking her. I don’t know what her tolerances are to the anesthetics she’s on, so I dosed her a little on the light side.”

“Then she’s where we left her?”

Katz waved in her direction. “She’s still out cold. Right after I spoke to you I went back to my office, raided my medicine
cabinet, and set her up on intravenous. Steinman wasn’t so happy about baby-sitting her, but I told him I’d be back as fast
as I could. Which, by the way, is what you told me.” Katz held his wristwatch up. “It’s almost ten o’clock. You’ve been gone
for, what, twelve hours?”

“Where’s Steinman now?”

“He went home with a splitting headache. A concussion will do that. I just hope he’ll come back. Thanks to you and your little—”

“We got him, Katz. We got Krogan.”

Katz paused. “Dead?”

“No, the guy in the morgue wasn’t him. It’s a long story. But we got him and he’s alive,” Gavin said, tempted to tell Katz
they had brought Krogan with them.

Katz nodded. “Excellent.” Gavin wasn’t sure if Katz was glad the killer had been caught or glad he could finally get on with
his research unshackled by Gavin’s authority.

Katz’s gaze went past Gavin to Buck and Amy, who were peering around the doorjamb.

“I wasn’t sure how safe it was,” Gavin explained to Katz. “I don’t believe you know Mr. Buchanan.”

Katz shook Buck’s hand as they all walked into the living room, then turned to Amy, who was carrying the chest.

“Let me take that from you,” Katz said. “You look… tired.”

Tortured was more like it. Amy’s eyelids were puffy and red, her T-shirt ripped and dirty, and her wrists and ankles wrapped
in gauze and adhesive tape.

“I’ll take that,” Gavin said, intercepting the chest before Katz could get to it.

“What’s this, Pierce?” Katz said, frowning suspiciously.

“You’ll see,” Gavin said, then walked over to Karianne. With the exception of the intravenous tube taped to her arm, she appeared
just as she had when he’d left her this morning, but the picture of tranquility before him did not deceive him. Not anymore.

Amy plopped into the overstuffed chair and drew her knees up to her chest. Gavin wished he could take her home with him and
deal with everything else in the morning—preferably late morning. But this couldn’t wait.

“She’ll need to be woken up,” Buck said, pointing to Karianne. He took a seat on a chair with the wooden chest at his feet.

“Stop the flow, Katz; it’s time to bring her around,” Gavin said.

“To do what?” Katz demanded.

“You may need to hypnotize her again. She needs to be in the state she was in before she was drugged,” Buck said.

“I thought the idea was to keep her out of that state,” Katz said.

“Don’t worry, Katz. Buck’s here,” Gavin said with a rare smile.

Katz glanced at Buck—at his white hair and tired, rumpled appearance—and looked back at Gavin as though he were crazy.
“Don’t worry? That’s what you said this morning. One word, you said. You just wanted to say one word.”

“It wasn’t a word, Katz. It was a name.”

“Whose name?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“I don’t believe you anyway. And what’s in that chest?”

“Fine, Katz. Disconnect her and I’ll tell you everything.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I will.”

“Then I won’t hypnotize her,” Katz said, folding his arms defiantly.

“Doctor Katz,” Buck said. “What needs to be done can be done whether she is conscious or not, but it would be better for her
and easier on us if we only had to deal with her subconscious.”

Katz took a long moment. He looked at Buck, then at Amy, who were both staring back at him. “Okay. But before she comes to,
tell me what this is all about.”

“Well, I know this is going to ruin your plans of making Kari-anne a poster girl for reincarnation, but she hasn’t been reliving
her past lives for us.”

“She hasn’t?” Katz deadpanned. “I suppose you’re going to tell me she knew how to speak all those languages and made up those
stories from what she learned of ancient civilizations in school.”

“No. The fact is she hasn’t said anything to us. We’ve been speaking to another.”

“Someone else has been speaking through her?”

“Some-
thing
else,” Buck said.

Katz turned to Buck. He looked at the chest by his feet, then at Amy, then turned back to Gavin, his blank expression giving
way to a smirk. “You? Detective Gavin Pierce? You’ve got to be kidding me! You, of all people! What now—an exorcism?”

Gavin said nothing. He knew there wasn’t much Katz could say.
The psychologist couldn’t very well protest what they planned— not with all the liberties he himself had taken with Karianne.

Katz noted the stoic faces of the others, then shrugged and chuckled lightly as he shook his head. He clamped the tube and
removed the needle from Karianne’s arm, then stepped back with a mocking bow.

“Now, if you can wake her up we’ll—” Gavin started.

“I kept her dosage fairly light, but she’s still going to need a little time before—”

“She’s going to need less time than you think, Doctor,” Buck said.

Katz smirked. “You certainly are sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

Buck didn’t respond, but Gavin was confident in the old man. “Just start doing your thing, Katz. It’s been a long day.”

Katz requested silence, set his metronome on the lamp table behind Karianne’s head, and turned it on. He reached for a chair,
then turned back to Karianne—and jumped.

Her eyes were wide open.

“Karianne!” Katz said, surprise obvious in his voice.

She said nothing in return. Her eyes fixed on his for a moment, then rolled left toward Gavin.

“Hi,” Gavin said with a wave. If he were communicating with the real Karianne, she would take his gesture as friendly, but
if he were speaking to Sabah…

“You mock?” she said.

Katz backed hurriedly away, right over the chair, apparently recognizing the familiar, arrogant tone and not wanting another
beating.

“I’m not here to mock, Sabah,” Gavin said, addressing the demon within Karianne. “I’m here to say good-bye. You’re leaving.”

“I’ll kill you for speaking to me by name,” she snarled, rising from the couch.

“I don’t think so. I’ve brought a friend whom you might know.
He’s not the vengeful type, but I think in your case he’ll make an exception. At least I hope so.”

Before Gavin could finish, Karianne had snapped her gaze left and found Buck. Like Krogan, Karianne’s eyes filled with shock.
Buck’s gaze remained unflinching, hard and cold as black ice. The preacher was old, but his mind was sharp and within him
resided a recognized power that struck terror into his ancient foe. Unlike Krogan, Sabah seemed to know from the outset there
was no contest.

“It’s over, Sabah,” Buck said, tapping on the lid of the chest between his feet.

Karianne looked at the chest. “Have you forgotten what happened last time you interfered, Preacher? Have you forgotten Krogan?”

Buck opened the chest and carefully took out the tortoise. Its legs clawed at the air as it tried in vain to snap at Buck’s
hand. “No, Sabah, I haven’t forgotten anything… especially Krogan.”

Checkmate, Gavin thought as he saw reality wash across Kari-anne’s stunned face. She stared, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Hiola kielyatie, Krogan.”

The tortoise stopped snapping and looked straight at Karianne. Gavin had no idea what she had just said and judging by the
frowns around the room, he doubted anyone else knew, either. But unless he had lost his mind—which at this point he considered
a definite possibility—the tortoise understood.

Karianne quickly looked around the room, desperate for an escape. She turned toward Katz, who immediately stepped backward.
Her chin hitched toward Gavin. He knew an animal was most dangerous when cornered, but he steeled his nerves and kept his
feet in place.

“You’re history,” he said boldly. “I imagine it’s gonna be a little cramped in there with the both of you.”

Karianne’s eyes appeared ready to burst into flames, but the
second she started in Gavin’s direction he heard Buck speak the simple command that had overcome Krogan: “Cease.”

Karianne’s body froze in midstride. To Gavin’s relief, she did not demonstrate anything near the level of resistance Krogan
had.

“In the name of him who will judge you in the end, I loose you from this woman and bind you into this tortoise.”

Gavin rushed to catch Karianne as she fell limply. There was something that had sounded ridiculous in the way Buck said, “into
this tortoise,” but, holding Karianne, Gavin could hardly poke fun at the results. Buck’s power—and power was exactly what
it was— was no joke.

In an absurdly anticlimactic gesture, Buck calmly put the tortoise back into the chest and shut the lid as if it were a paddy-wagon
door. “Lay her down,” he instructed Gavin. “She’ll need to sleep off the rest of that drug you had her on.” He looked at Katz,
who appeared to be in shock.

“I think you’ll find the history lesson is over the next time you hypnotize her,” Gavin said as he laid Karianne’s head down
on the soft pillow on the couch. He reached past her head and shut off the metronome, then turned to the rest of the group.

“And now, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to go home and sleep for about a week.” He looked at Amy. “You coming?”

Amy nodded and came to his side. He took her hand. “Buck, I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of our two friends.” Buck patted the chest. “My friend at the zoo is waiting to hear from me.”

Gavin nodded. Then, without another word, he led Amy out. His last view was of Katz, standing speechless in the middle of
the living room, staring at the silent metronome.