Page 45 of Shadow of Death
“Forty? Forty-five. I never counted.”
“Then, were they all on the cliffs today?” Amy asked.
“I—I’m not sure. I know that...” Johnston began before his voice lagged and his face knit into a frown.
“Yes?” Amy prodded.
“I know Mateus always told us he answered to ahigher authority. I thought he meant God. But sometimes he’d be on his phone and... I think maybe he was talking to hishigher authority. I mean, I really don’t think God needs a cell phone if he chooses to communicate,” Johnston added dryly and bitterly. He stared across the table at Hunter suddenly. “Brian! Brian is all right, isn’t he? What’s going to happen to him?”
“He’s with a great social worker right now, and I believe he’ll be allowed to go home with your wife’s sister, Violet,” Hunter said.
Johnston’s face twisted into a knot of agony. “Violet—she’ll take care of him?” he whispered hopefully.
“I guess Violet is really the forgiving kind,” Hunter told him.
“She’ll never speak to me again,” he whispered. “But if she helps Brian, that will be okay! I’ll just be thankful from whatever distance she requires!”
“What happened between you and your sister-in-law?” Hunter asked him.
Johnston took a breath and looked down as he spoke. “We had a falling out over the church. I asked her to join. She was incredulous, appalled we had decided to homeschool Brian. Vi believed that Brian grew strong at school, that he was remarkable and he did have friends—and all kids get punked now and then. But Brian knew how to handle it. She said we had turned into sheep, following some stupidcult.I said it was just a church and then I flew off the handle. I told her Brian was my son and I had the right to make choices. Then Peggy blew up at her for blowing up back at me and...she left. And we haven’t spoken since.”
“Doyouknow anything more about Mateus?” Amy asked him. “Surname? Where he’s from, where he lives?”
“No. We saw him at functions or at his church. And it seemed so right! Church in the open—in the beauty of God’s nature. And when we came into it, everyone was so nice—we were all looking for the same thing, for others who said please and thank you and good day, and meant it!”
“But you knew what was going to happen?” Hunter asked him.
Johnston winced and nodded. “There was a meeting at a bowling alley. It went on while the kids were playing. Mateus told us about this poor girl who had come to him, begging for help. And how he had prayed after, and then had a vision. In his vision, the rider on the black horse had come to him, telling himthe endwas very soon. And if he was going to help her, he had to be serious. He had to do what was painful, to have the faith and strength to do what was necessary.” He paused for a minute. “I was to help him when we carried out our duty to God and bring her to be left at a fissure in the cliffs.”
“And you knew where that was?” Hunter asked.
He nodded. “Mateus pointed it out to me from the trail.”
“We need a list of names of everyone in your—church,” Hunter told him.
“Of course. But...”
“But what?” Hunter demanded.
“We, uh, only ever used given names. I swear, though, I’ll make a list. I can do approximate ages, who went with who...and you have others, right? Mateus and Brother Martin are dead, I know—but Martin wasn’t the only acolyte. There were also Brother Josiah and Brother Gabriel.”
Hunter glanced at Amy who was gazing at him. TheBrothers’ names were probably not real.
“They—they took Mateus,” Johnston murmured. “One of them. I suppose they had to hide his body so they could go back and give it all the rites they believe...yeah, I would have...believed he deserved for being such a devoted servant of God.” He looked from one of them to the other and said softly, “I don’t blame you if you don’t believe any of this. Until what happened... I believed with my whole heart. If Mateus said we had to kill that girl to save her, then I would have followed. And I know maybe you can’t believe anyone could make such a turnaround, but...my wife and kid aregood.The best. Kind, generous, you name it. And he would have killed Brian, and he did shoot my wife!”
Hunter believed him. He’d seen it before. Sometimes, people stayed brainwashed forever. Sometimes, they saw a truth, and it was as if a light had been turned on in their heads.
“I believe you,” he said, rising. “Brian is a great kid. Before your association with Mateus, you and your wife were probably great parents.”
“What happens now?” Johnston asked bleakly.
Amy stood. “Are you hungry?” she asked him.
“Um—I guess?” Johnston said the words as a confused question.
“You’ll be charged and taken to a facility, but we may have a few more questions in a bit,” Amy said. “Meantime, I can get you something to eat. Are you hungry?”
“Sure. Food. Thank you. I don’t know if I can eat. I should try,” Johnston said.
