The Visitation Part 55

"How many hostages are up there?" a patrolman asked me.

"Well . . ." I had to turn my phone off in the middle of Morgan's number. "It's a religious group. There are hostages and there are followers. I don't know how many of each, how many are being held there and how many want to be there."

"Oh great."

"There could be as many as a hundred followers. There's a whole RV park up there."

"Jonestown all over again."

"Maybe."

The patrolman moved on, barking orders to subordinates. I'd never seen so many cops appear so suddenly in the middle of the prairie. I punched in Morgan's number again.

"TRAVIS?"

I almost collapsed from relief. "Morgan! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just came in the door."

"How are you? Where are you?" That conniving liar, I thought.

Sheriff Parker b.u.t.ted in. "Where's the guy who drew the map?"

"Hang on, Morgan." To Parker, "Uh, I've got his mother on the phone right now."

"Does he know the layout of the house and grounds? If he does, we need to get him up here. We'll send a squad car if he needs a ride."

"All right. Morgan?"

"Yes, Travis." She sounded impatient.

"I'm at the ranch-well, down on the highway in front of it." More sheriff's deputies arrived, then some formidable police vans. I could see police officers in flak vests and helmets hustling up the hill in the dark, fanning out to contain the house and the RV village. "The place is swarming with cops."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm okay. I'm shaking a bit, but I'm okay."

MORGAN DROPPED INTO THE CHAIR nearest the door, not bothering to take off her coat, a flurry of dark possibilities at the threshold of her imagination. "Tell me what happened."

She heard a quick recap of our excavation, what we found, and how all h.e.l.l was breaking loose at the ranch even as we spoke. She didn't hear about Cantwell's boast regarding her.

"Travis, can you leave? I want you to come home-I mean, go home-I just want you out of there and safe."

"I'm safe, Morgan."

"I want to see you safe."

"We need Michael."

"Travis, we are not talking about Michael, we are talking about you and where you are and how I feel about where you are!"

"The police need to know the layout of the house-you know, rooms, hallways, how to get in and out. Michael would know that, and he's good at drawing maps."

Take a breath, Morgan, take a breath. "I'm not sure where he is." "What do you mean?"

"I called your house but he didn't answer."

"Oh brother. I tried calling him too. No answer."

She was trying not to worry. She was failing. "I'm going over there. He might be asleep. He's a sound sleeper."

"Hey, that's what we can do: Swing by there and get him and then both of you come up here."

"You can't be serious!"

PARKER WAS STANDING right by me, waiting.

"Morgan . . ." I still had Cantwell's vicious boast in my mind. "I'd feel better if you were here. I mean, I'm surrounded by police, and right now I'd rather you and Michael were too."

"You got him?" Parker wanted to know.

"Morgan?"

She gave in reluctantly. "The Macon ranch?"

"Just head out the highway. You'll see the cop cars, believe me. And listen-" I told Parker, "Uh, Sheriff, I'd count it a great favor if you could send somebody down to my place to make sure everybody's okay, that they get here all right."

"Where do you live?" Parker didn't wait for an answer but hollered around, "Anybody know where this man lives?"

"h.e.l.lo, Morgan?"

"I'm listening, Travis. I'm still listening."

"Uh, hold on . . ."

Brett Henchle hurried forward, got a quick briefing, and volunteered. "Uh, it'll be Morgan Elliott-you know, the minister lady-and her son-he used to be that radical prophet."

"Don't worry." Then he touched my shoulder. "By the way: You were right." He ran to his car.

"Morgan, Brett Henchle's going to meet you at my place to make sure you get up here okay, so just wait for him, all right?"

"BRETT HENCHLE? Travis, were you present when we discussed him?"

"He's snapped out of it. He's talked to Sally Fordyce, he's had to quell a riot, he's had to clean up wormy loaves of bread-and now he has a homicide on his hands. He's with us now, really."

Everything was happening very fast and not at all sensibly. She put on the brakes, took a deep breath, and regrouped. Like it or not, it was time to rise to the occasion and take charge of her part in it. "All right, Travis. I'll get Michael and wait for Brett Henchle, and we will meet you up at the Macon ranch."

"Love ya."

"Good-bye."

She ended the call-then replayed the last few lines in her mind. "Ohh!" Now she wanted to kick herself. Love ya! Love ya, and all she said was good-bye?

Travis, how could you do this to me!?

She turned on her heel and went out the door. She didn't mean to slam it-at least, that's what she told herself.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW about this Matt character?" Parker asked me.

"He's a decorated Vietnam vet. He's intensely loyal. He held off the Vietcong by himself so his buddies could make it out in a chopper."

Parker looked toward the ranch with regret in his eyes.

"Don't . . . don't hurt him. Please."

Parker didn't get a chance to reply. Another deputy was handing him a cell phone. "Sheriff, we got him on the line."

"Nichols?"

"It's him."

Parker pushed the phone at me. "I understand you know him better than anyone. Talk to him. Calm him down." I hesitated. "Just get him talking, get things on an even keel."

I took the phone and gingerly held it to my ear. "h.e.l.lo. This is Travis."

"My, my, my, what a gathering!"

"Yeah, they're throwing quite a party down here."

"Parker isn't smiling."

I glanced at Parker. "No, he sure isn't. Not too many of them are. So how are you doing?"

"Oh, well enough. I have my own little family up here, ready to stand with me and go out in a flame of glory. This is the New Jerusalem. We can't let it fall to the infidels."

"Do they all feel that way?"

"Well, just the ones that matter: Matt, Mary, Melody-"

"What about Morgan?"

He laughed. "Rest easy, my friend. She's not here."

"Who else, Justin? Who's in there with you?"

He only sighed. "Why don't you go home, Travis? You can't do any good up here."

"I'm supposed to be the negotiator. You and I are supposed to talk things out."

"Oh, right. I give you a list of my demands, they say they'll think about it, they cut off our water and power and blast us with loud music for a few days, and then they storm in and shoot all of us. That is what we're talking about, isn't it?"

"Hey, it's your call, right? I told you not to make things worse for yourself."

"Go home, Travis."

"What about our discussion?"

"It's hard to speak freely and openly when there are a million cops around."

"We may not get another chance."

"Oh, we will, you can count on that. Hey, gotta go."

"I met your father, Justin. Boy, now there's something we can talk about."

"TRAVIS! Go. Home."

He hung up. I let Parker know. Parker signaled the men standing by him. "Okay, let's cut the power and water. Have those floodlights arrived?"

"On their way," said a cop with "POLICE" emblazoned on the back of his jacket.

"Let's get a better phone system going here, something we can monitor." He addressed me. "Can you get him on the line again?"

I shrugged. "I can always ring the number. I don't know if he'll answer."

A deputy with a handheld radio had gotten the word. "The RV village is secure." He listened further. "There's no resistance and a lot of them want to leave."

Parker sniffed a sneering chuckle. "Loyal followers!" He ordered, "Okay, search and screen each vehicle and roll it out of there, the whole village, one by one. We'll eliminate the hiding places and tighten the perimeter."

MORGAN HAD NEVER BEEN INSIDE THE HOUSE but she knew where it was, and thankfully, she didn't have to navigate the main street through town to get there. The local fire department was out, lights flas.h.i.+ng. The ambulance was deployed, lights flas.h.i.+ng. Antioch's second squad car was blocking access to the damage zone, lights flas.h.i.+ng, and some county sheriff's vehicles were on the scene as well, lights flas.h.i.+ng. The center of town had become a major wreck on the highway.

Myrtle Street, on the other hand, had quieted down. The porch lights were on up and down the block, and an occasional TV screen glowed blue through a front window. She drove as far as the highway barrier at the west border of the town, and there, on the right, was my little bungalow. The porch light was on there too, and lights were on inside. The shades were drawn She went through the front gate, up the short walk, and onto the porch. The front door was unlocked. She knocked, cracked it open, and called, "Michael? Michael, it's Mom."

No answer. She looked over her shoulder for the approach of Brett Henchle, but realized she had to be well ahead of him. The ranch was several miles out of town, and he'd have to drive through some of that chaos on the main street before he could turn off to get here.

She went inside to wait, and immediately, unintentionally began to acquaint herself with how Travis Jordan lived and kept house. The living room wasn't too bad. A model airplane, still in progress, lay on a table on the back porch. The kitchen was a mess with empty root beer bottles on the table, and two pieces of cold Canadian bacon pizza on a plate.

The bedroom was just off the dining room and the door was open. She debated for just a moment and then stole quietly in to have just a quick look. The bed was made, and that pleased her. The stuffed lion and lamb posed against the pillows made her smile. Books were neatly perched on the shelves, and an aquarium, home to four tropical fish and one tiny frog, gurgled peacefully.

She heard a noise and turned. Nothing there but the messy kitchen and two pieces of cold pizza.

The bedroom closet was along the wall to her immediate right, closed off with bifold doors. She was tempted to take a peek in there as well, but drew the line right where she stood. Privacy was privacy. Besides, there was a smell in here, like body odor. He has some dirty tee s.h.i.+rts hiding somewhere, she thought, and I don't want to find them.

Then she saw the picture beside the bed, and paused. It was Marian, looking the best she'd ever looked in one of those perfect hair, hand-to-chin studio poses. She walked quietly, even respectfully, around the bed and to the nightstand to take a closer look. This was Marian in her prime, before the cancer and chemotherapy. Morgan couldn't resist. She had to touch it, then pick it up, charmed by Marian's smile, saddened by the loss. She could identify. She had a picture of Gabe by her bed.

She looked over her shoulder.

Nothing there but shelves, a banjo, and the door to the kitchen. Sometimes light reflected off the inside of her gla.s.ses and made her think she was seeing something. That must have been what it was.