Page 4 of Shadow of Death
“Well, yes, I figure the Apocalypse can be big,” he said, and she loved the way he spoke, half teasing, half respecting her words. “It will not be endless. And there will not be an apocalypse. Because these people aren’t believers—not in any true religion.”
He was right. “But what is the endgame?” she murmured.
“Now on that,” he said, “as of now, well. Hmm. I don’t know. But Denver is great.”
“Yeah, it’s a great city,” she agreed.
And it was nice traveling on the private jet. But as they flew, she found herself bringing up the Book of Revelations and going through its various stanzas.
“‘And he that sat on him held a pair of balances in his hand,’” she quoted aloud.
“And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thee hurt not the oil and the wine,’” Hunter finished.
“And from what I’m reading, biblical scholars say it refers to hunger, to famine, and to disease,” Amy said.
“Well, we didn’t need a criminal mastermind for the disease part,” Hunter said. “But it’s also true there are many diseases that have been controlled—but can still be cast out on the public with purpose. But you’d need access to a lab and...hunger. Famine. And ‘hurt not the oil and the wine’—from what I’ve read that refers to the wealthy. I don’t know what we’re dealing with here or even if the missing persons cases are part of this, but we’ll land on the answers soon.”
Amy nodded and looked out the window. She was taken by the scenery beneath her. They’d left behind the eternal blues and greens of the Everglades, the ocean, the flat land, and now traveled over miles of dusty colors, land that rolled and curved, and crossed hills and mountains in all kinds of colors. She smiled, loving the beauty of the country. She had always known she would be with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but she realized she loved the diversity of the ground itself, the expanse that was the country; she felt a passionate swell of determination.
They would find the black horse.
The captain’s voice came over the speaker warning them to buckle in.
They did so. Amy watched as they came down to earth in the city of Denver.
Andy Mason was at the airport to meet them, sweeping up one of their bags, smiling and nodding as Hunter introduced Amy to him. He was a big man, maybe in his late forties, dark-haired, but with one streak of solid white heading back from his forehead as if the coloring was that of a backward skunk.
“Of course, we’ve all been on alert across the country. But I didn’t come across a body—and God knows with some of the media that’s gone out, some kid who knows what I do for a living might have thought it was funny to leave a plastic horse on my porch. But we’ve gotten calls lately from police stations between here and Boulder. People have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Now, those disappearing are adults, and adults are legally allowed to disappear if they choose. But from the people I have managed to get to interview, their loved ones don’t sound like the kind to disappear. And just yesterday, we got a new one. So, if you’re good with it, we’ll leave your baggage in the trunk and I’ll take you to speak with a woman who is insistent something had to have happened to her friend. I’ve checked you into the hotel already,” he added, handing Hunter an envelope with hotel key cards.
“Thanks. And fine with us,” Amy assured him.
“Amy likes to hit the ground running,” Hunter told him and grinned at her as they both climbed into Andy’s SUV.
She tried to smile in return. But while she’d honestly relaxed and enjoyed the time they’d had together just playing in Key West, the knowledge that nothing had really ended kept haunting her.
“The woman I interviewed about her report is Hayden Harper. She’s midforties, and an advertising exec at the Barrington Agency,” Andy Mason told them as he drove. “She reported her friend Carey Allen missing when she didn’t show up for a lunch they had planned. She was told, of course, that someone wasn’t considered missing just because they didn’t show up for lunch. Hayden was persistent. When Carey didn’t show up for work the next day, she hounded the police again. And with all that has gone on, the police informed us. I came out to see her, and she sounds legit and may give us real help. She doesn’t live far from Red Rocks. Amy, have you ever been to a performance of any kind at Red Rocks?”
“I have not,” Amy told him.
“An incredible place. A natural amphitheater. But there is so much incredible here. We’re going to have to show her around the place, huh, Hunter?”
“I spent some time here four years ago, I think,” Hunter said. “Yes, Andy, Colorado is amazing. The natural wonders are phenomenal.”
“I mean, you’re from Florida,” Andy said.
“Hey!” Amy protested.
“I mean, it’s just flat, right?” Andy said.
She laughed. “We have a few hills in the Ocala region. We also have the only continental reef in the country, alligatorsandcrocodiles—”
“I’d head straight down for that,” Andy teased.
“Freshwater springs, diving in sea and in freshwater, the Everglades—”
“Great place to hide bodies, I understand,” Andy said.
“Where there’s a will, there’s way,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen bodies hidden in just about every possible geographical location. Yes, Florida is a great state. Colorado is a great state—”
