Page 41 of Shadow of Death
“Yes, yes, of course,” Amy assured her. “Mrs. Johnston—”
“Peggy, please.”
“Peggy, how and where did you meet Mateus and the man who shot you, Brother Martin? How did you become part of their cult?”
“Cult? No, no, they’re just a nondenominational group. Oh. I am an idiot. They were...are, no, he’s dead. Mateus is dead. I saw him shot before he could lower the knife. Dead center in the chest. Mateus found us at a church fair. He played games with Brian...you know, knocking bottles off shelves and the like. Then we went to lunch, and we found out he was an ordained minister, and he seemed so good and so sure. We met others. They all admired him so much. We started attending his church...”
“Peggy, where is his church?” Amy asked.
“Oh, well, right there. Right on the cliffs. That’s where we always met. It was beautiful. We were surrounded by God’s beautiful creation, nature. And Mateus reminded us a church was wherever we met in His name. I mean, that’s true, right? But then...he pointed out all the signs. He told us we needed to prepare and... We were such idiots, but when I look back, it started out as...”
“Peggy, I believe you mean you thought you had joined with something good where it was important for you to be kind to your fellow man. You would be bringing Brian into a fold where he could grow, knowing that being a decent human being was the greatest thing asked of us,” Amy said gently. “But let me make sure I’m understanding this. You were at a fair put on by your regular church, and he found you there?”
She nodded. “And he befriended us. And when we met others... Well, they all spoke about how wonderful he had been when meeting them, and how he seemed to be an example of the love he was teaching us to show others.”
“What about Brother Martin—the man who shot you?” Amy asked.
She shook her head. “He assisted Mateus sometimes. He would hold open a book and light candles. We used the rock where...where he intended to cleanse that young woman of her sins...as an altar. We would sing sometimes, and it was beautiful. Then he told us we must grow serious—and if we truly loved our fellow man, we would have to do painful things. We would have to absorb some of their sin so they could rise with us.”
“Do you know anything more about Mateus and Martin? Last names?” Amy asked hopefully. Of course, if Hunter had shot Martin to stop him from killing someone else, they would have his body. That meant dental impressions and fingerprints, and they might find out about his identity and his associates from that.
Amy hoped they’d eventually find the body of the “minister” Mateus. It would help to get a jump-start on the men.
But Peggy shook her head, frowning. “When we met...he just went by Mateus. We never called him Father Mateus, but Martin was introduced to us as Brother Martin. We just... I don’t know. I guess it sounds stupid. Oh, my God, now everything about this sounds stupid. We were stupid. Horribly stupid. I hope Bret sees it. I never thought...in a thousand years, I never thought anyone would hurt my son! When I saw he would have killed Brian, it was as if something in my mind exploded, and... I never believed he would shoot me for that matter. But he did it to escape! Martin wanted others to sacrifice, but he just wanted to escape! How could I have been so blind?” she asked a little desperately.
“We all want something better—we all want to believe,” Amy murmured.
“I never saw the hypocrisy,” Peggy murmured. “I will help you now, in any way. I mean, I don’t know much, but they talked about the fact they hadsavedothers. Bret and I hadn’t been with the assembly that long. Others might know more about anything that went on before. I know how stupid I sound now, and it may be hard to believe this, but it was the most loving group of people. Polite, kind, courteous... We would go to the cliff and sing, listen to scripture... Oh, God. I guess scripture can be interpreted in many ways.” She tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and she fell back, saying, “Please believe me. We were there. We fell for the words told to us. We believed the young woman had begged for help—”
“What?”
“We were told she had come to Mateus, knowing the Apocalypse was coming, and she knew how grossly she had sinned and begged him to save her soul.”
“By being stabbed through the heart?”
Peggy shook her head. “I—I didn’t know what he was going to do, but...even if I had realized then what he was doing, I would have believed in his love for his fellow man. I didn’t see... I honestly didn’t see anything until Martin threatened to shoot Brian. And I am humiliated to say this, but if I would have known then—realized then—how horrible it all was, I think I would have been afraid to protest—even before Martin and others showed they were armed.”
Amy produced a card. “Fear can be powerful,” Amy told her. “And I don’t know exactly what charges will be filed, but I’m sure the DA will acknowledge the fact you’re trying to cooperate. And I will call your sister. If you can give me her contact information, I will make sure we reach her.”
“Thank you, thank you!”
Peggy accepted Amy’s card and the pen and notepad Amy handed her. She jotted down her sister’s name and phone number and handed the little pad back to Amy.
“Thank you,” she said again.
The doctor was standing in the doorway. Amy knew she needed to leave so the patient could rest.
“I’ll check up on you and keep you informed,” Amy told her. She glanced toward the doorway and smiled. “Your doctor told me you should make a full recovery.”
“I’m grateful,” she said softly.
Amy smiled and left the room. She thanked the doctor again and looked for the agent sent to keep guard over the woman.
As Andy Mason had promised, a man was in a chair by the door. They acknowledged one another, and Amy headed on out while dialing Hunter as she did so.
He answered her immediately—just saying her name.
“Amy.”
