Within a couple miles of our destination, Jacob had slammed on the breaks and pulled over to the side of the road. “This isn’t right.” He jumped out of the car and stared down the country deserted road. Lights and tents could be seen in the distance. “I knew the Feds were searching, but I didn’t know they had a base camp here.”
The air was cool and dry and smelled of sage. An animal’s howl could be heard.
I gave Jacob all the information I could had. “The Feds said that they are conducting sweeps of this area. Given the timeline before they caught Jackson at that gas station, they must’ve figured she’d be somewhere along this road. If Jackson hadn’t been lying.
“They know where we gotta go.”
“The Feds?”
“The Morning Stars. The nexus point is a couple miles passed the Feds camp. It must be the closest one to that gas station where Jackson killed that gas station attendant.
“Nexus?” I asked.
Jacob kept his eye on the distant camp. “There’re only certain places you can call a Jinni or communicate with the other side. Elliot, that cowboy that stopped you the first time, knows where they all are. The Morning Stars sent him to stop you from calling a Jinni. They know where we’re going. We only have one place to go.”
“Do you know where another one is?”
“No, but it don’t matter. This be it. Each one is completely different. Our bag of goodies won’t necessarily work at a different one. My hunch is that there isn’t another one close anyways. That’s how Elliot knew to stop you where he did. Joe the Barber is gonna be waitin’ for us. His men probably infiltrated the Fed’s camp already, waiting for us to drive by. They were probably here from day one.”
“How do you know?”
“Cause I use to be in Joe’s crew.”
“I’m more afraid of that cowboy. That guy was scary with a gun,” I told Jacob.
“He won’t be here. They don’t need him anymore. He’s more of a hired assassin than a Morning Star. He comes from the old days when the Protectors fought.”
I ignored the obvious question and asked, “What do we do?”
Jacob turned off the car. “We walk. This area is flat and in a valley. If we wait for daybreak, they’ll see us for sure. Right now, we can walk right passed their camp.”
“We are going to walk through the desert at night?”
Jacob rubbed his chin. “I’ll go by myself. You get some sleep. Wait for daybreak and then drive to the Fed’s camp. Chat them up. The Morning Stars will focus on you, and I’ll sneak to the nexus point and get Avery’s location.”
“Why are the Morning Stars so bent on not saving Avery?”
Jacob leaned against the car, thinking. “They got a crew working around the clock trying to find her. Likely, that Fed camp gots Joe’s men as well as a crew who is just looking for Avery. They just can’t let you contact an angel to help you. Jinni’s can be vicious. The Morning Stars are afraid of them, and they should be.”
“Have you used them before?”
“Not from this side.” Jacob cleared his throat. “I used to be on the other side. I could see angels since I was a kid. My moms thought it was blessing from God. She worked in the church ever since my pops died. She thought Jesus was the answer to the ghetto’s thug life. She didn’t know that they were the suppliers. Drugs, prostitutes, whatever you need. All came from the church. As soon as my minister knew that I could see the angels, I became his errand boy. I worked with the angels. They were scary, even from the other side.”
“How’d you escape?”
“Just like everyone else. Realized that the morals my moms taught me were not what the preacher practiced. I got rid of my own watcher, left Chicago, and ran to bright sunny California. Left my moms, just like my pops did.”
“Your Dad’s in the Morning Stars too?”
“No, he was a junkie. But in my mom’s eyes, there ain’t no difference. She don’t know why I left. There’s no community there, like here. She wouldn’t have been safe. I’ve seen angels erase memories, replace Watchers, and execute rebels. It’s not pretty. I really don’t know what a Jinni is going to do from this side of the line. I do know that they do what the master says. I’ll call the angel and ask it to find Avery. You keep those Feds on you. We’ll find her before you know it. ”
Jacob took both guns and left before I could muster up the courage to protest. I guess if I couldn’t tell him that I wanted to go with, I’m not brave enough to go along. So, here I am alone in Jacob’s care. Waiting for day break.
No comments:
Post a Comment