The Influence(107)

It occurred to her that this reaction was wrong, that she was doing precisely what she shouldn’t do, but she pushed those thoughts aside. Passing a gas station, some tourist cabins and an occasional farm, she followed the road as it wound upward through high chaparral, twisting and turning. Ahead, she saw the twinkling blue of a large reservoir. Ringed with pine trees, it was beautiful, and she stopped at a roadside pullout, got out of the van and stared for several minutes at the shimmering water, enraptured.

She decided that she would like to paint this scene. Ordinarily, she was not one for landscapes, but something about this place spoke to her.

Did she have any art supplies still in the van? A quick search determined that she did not, but that was easily remedied. She’d seen a sign a ways back on the road announcing at least two upcoming towns. Even assuming that neither community had an art supply store, all she had to do was find a Target, a Wal-Mart or even a CVS. Any of those places would carry simple school supplies, and they were bound to have construction paper and watercolors, which were really the only things that she needed at the moment. Then she would come back here and paint. Maybe from this spot, maybe from another, maybe from several. And if she could not find a place nearby to stay for the night, she would sleep in her van.

Why? Jill wondered.

It was not a question worth answering. It was what she wanted to do, what she needed to do, and what she would do.

Jill knew she should call Ross and tell him where she was, but she didn’t dare because she didn’t want it to know. This way was safer, and she would stay here until…until…until she didn’t need to anymore.

She got back into the van.

And continued up the road to the next town, where she bought her paints and paper before heading back to the reservoir.





THIRTY FOUR




Dave had been after her to go back to Magdalena, if only to check on their property and their animals—“We can’t stay away forever,” he said—but although Lita worried about the fate of her horse and wondered if Jackass was even still taking care of the ranch for them, she agreed with Ross: she would only go back when it was proved to her that that monster was gone.

Unfortunately, she had not been able to contact any of her friends in Magdalena to find out what was happening. For all she knew, they had left, too. But if that were the case, their cell phones and email should have worked—and they didn’t. Her gut told her that things were worse now than they had been when she’d left, though there was no way to know one way or the other.

Her dad was still missing, and it was getting harder and harder to tell herself that there was nothing sinister in that. No one had any clue as to his whereabouts, the police were apparently stymied in their investigation, and it took every last ounce of hope and optimism she had in order to convince herself that he was not dead.

And that it was not connected to the angel.

The monster.

Dave, too, had been trying to get ahold of people back in Magdalena, and when he finally did get through to Jackass, the news was not good. The handyman said that over half the population of the town and surrounding area had fled, and that of the ones who remained, many were holed up, survivalist style, in barricaded houses filled with guns and supplies.

Some had changed.

They talked for a few moments, before Dave handed the phone to Lita.

“What about our place?” she asked after a quick greeting. “How’s Mickey?”

There was a short pause, while Jackass obviously tried to decide what and how much he should say. He opted for the vague and simple, “He ain’t Mickey no more.”

Lita felt as though she’d been kicked in the chest, as though she’d had a hole punched through her heart, but she quickly decided that she didn’t want to know the details. She was silent for a moment. “Get out of there,” she told him finally.

“As soon as I get the rest of my gold, I’m off for better climes,” he promised.

“You should go now.”

“I’m bein’ left alone so far. As long as my luck holds out…”

“Luck changes,” she said. “That’s what it does.”

“I know. And at the first sign, I’m outta here.” He sounded apologetic. “But there’s a lot a gold, Lita. And after all this time of everyone thinkin’ I’m crazy…”

“You don’t still think that angel’s protecting you, do you?”

“No, but a lot of people are protectin’ the angel now. At least that’s what I hear.” For the first time, there was a hint of fear in his voice. “They’re waitin’ for it to arise.”