Best of Intentions Page 15

  “No, Tori. You murdered innocent people. Ending their lives wasn’t your decision to make.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Tess. God has given me the power. You’ll see.”

  “Why? Where are you taking me?”

  “I’m taking you to meet the creator.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Devin was nearly asleep when a knock on the front door yanked him from his slumber. He padded down the hallway with purpose. At this rate, he might as well have a revolving door installed. Deciding whoever was on the other side had better have a damn good reason for interrupting his nap, Devin grabbed the handle and caught himself right before he flipped the lock.

  Not only had his late night tryst with Tessa taken a toll on his still healing body, eventually resulting in his need for a nap, but it had also clouded his thinking. He paused to look through the peephole, ensuring it wasn’t some rogue reporter, or overzealous fan that discovered his whereabouts. With the way the news worked, he figured he’d only needed to hide for maybe another month or so before he’d be forgotten about for whatever the latest news story of the day was.

  Much to his surprise, Eric stood on the front porch, blowing into his hands to keep warm as he waited. Surely, he had to know Tess was working. Devin flipped the deadbolt and opened the door.

  Eric looked at him. “Devin.”

  “If you’re looking for Tessa, she’s isn’t home from work yet,” Devin replied.

  Eric nodded. “I know. I came to talk to you. Can I come in?”

  Devin did a mental eye roll. Knowing Eric’s intense dislike for him, Devin could only image what the man had to say. He’d made his opinion clear and while Devin held no animosity toward him-after all he couldn’t’ fault the man for falling in love with Tessa-he wasn’t interested in defending his intentions again.

  Eric studied him up and down. “After I left last night, I realized not only were you walking around like you’d never been injured, but you’re driving too. When I was here two weeks ago, you could barely move on your own. I want some answers “

  Devin sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Eric’s brow knit into a scowl. “Are you going to try to feed me more of that witchcraft nonsense?”

  “It’s not nonsense.” Devin nodded toward the den. “Let me prove it to you.”

  Once in the den, Eric took a seat in the recliner across from the sofa, a look of disinterest on his face. Devin picked up the black spell book and handed it to him. He inspected it with the eye of a detective, turning the tattered, yellow pages with interest, then shrugged. “This is Tess’s book. I saw it when we were married.”

  Devin shook his head. “No, it’s mine. Before I left for California, I asked her to keep it, to take care of it for me because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the band and I didn’t want the book getting damaged or lost.” Devin took the book from Eric, opened it to the last page and handed it back to Eric. Eric read the inscription on the inside of the back cover from Devin’s Grandfather.

  “Okay,” he finally said handing the tattered manual back to Devin. “So the book is yours. That doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Maybe this will.” Devin set the book down and concentrated on the candle resting at the end of the table. He picked up the lighter and ignited the wick. After several moments, he began to concentrate on the flame, working it higher, forcing it into different and varying shapes.

  “How in the hell did you do that?” Eric asked. His voice was loud enough to break Devin’s concentration and the flame snuffed out when he turned his attention to Eric.

  “My great-grandfather was a witch; a full blooded, incantation-chanting, spell-casting witch. Those powers were passed to my grandfather and then to my dad. Only instead of embracing his heritage, my father shunned it and moved to the states. He met and married my mother who wasn’t a witch. They had my brother, who I don’t believe has any abilities and doesn’t practice. Then they had me. I have strong psychic powers and some telekinetic abilities. As far as invoking spells and such, I can, but the results are usually subtle and not instantaneous. I invoked the healing spell two and a half weeks ago, and it took the better part of seven days before everything completely healed.”

  Eric leaned back against the chair. “Let’s suspend reality for a minute and say I believe you. Why is Tess affected?”

  Was that progress he sensed? Had Eric opened his mind to the possibility of Devin’s powers? Devin eased down onto the couch. “When I was sixteen, I realized she and I had a special connection. She holds more power than she realizes which is why I’d bet anything there’s a witch somewhere in her lineage. She’d never had visions before, so the only thing I can figure is because of my injury and her heritage, I somehow was able to transfer my powers to her.”

  “And now that you’re healed?”

  Devin shrugged. “Her visions have stopped and mine have started again, so I think it’s returned to me. But how, I honestly don’t know.”

  “What about the charm you both share?”

  Devin nodded. “You mean the amulet? It’s fire onyx. The stone was my grandfather’s and I had it split and put into matching charms when I convinced her to take part in the joining. It helps to sustain the connection between us.” He cocked his head to the side and shot Eric a curious look. “Is that why you came here; to find out about my abilities?”

  “Actually, I came here to talk to you about your intentions with Tess.”

  Devin arched a brow. “No offense, but she is a grown woman. Shouldn’t this conversation be taking place between she and I, instead of the two of us?”

  “Look.” Eric stood and began to pace the room. “When you left her behind, she took it hard. I don’t care how much you two talked about your leaving. Even if she did say she understood, it was still rough on her.”

  Devin held up a hand. “I know it was hard on her. Much harder than I wanted it to be, but it’s different this...”

  Eric shook his head. “No, Devin. You didn’t watch her fall into a depression so deep you worried for her safety. You weren’t the one here to hold her while she cried at night and made sure she got out of bed the next day and went to work. It took years for her to get over you.”

  He stopped and looked back at Devin. “She never completely did, and as much as I love her, I have to accept the fact she’s still head over heels for you.”

  “Look, Eric. I love Tessa more than you’ll ever know and I would never intentionally hurt her.”

  “What about unintentionally? Just your being here is giving her hope, setting her up for another heartbreak.”

  Devin shook his head. “No, it’s not. I’m not leaving this time. Sure, I have to go back to LA and tie up some lose ends, but I’m done with that part of my life. Last night after you left, I asked Tessa to marry me.”

  The words hung in the air between them for several seconds before Eric spoke. “I assume she said yes.”

  Suddenly feeling bad for Eric, Devin nodded. Eric had made his love for Tess clear and it couldn’t be easy for him to accept she loved another.

  “Do you really expect me to believe you’re willing to walk away from the rock-n-roll lifestyle you’re accustomed to, to be the husband Tess needs you to be? Cause if you’re not, you need to make a clean break now, before you do anymore damage.”

  Devin looked up at him. “I’m not leaving, Eric. My hand didn’t heal like the rest of my body, which tells me the damage is permanent. Oh sure, I can still play guitar, but I’ll never have the chops I did before. Besides, there’s no way I’d want to go on without my band.”

  He moved across the room to stand face to face with Eric. “I know you love Tessa and you’re worried about her, but you don’t have to. It’s going to take a bit of time and adjustments, but I do want to be the husband to her she wants me to be. I want to have lots of kids with her and be the father I always wanted my dad to be. And believe it or not, I want to be a friend again, to h
er, you and everybody else I left behind.”

  Eric met his stare and drew in a long, deep breath. “Witch or not, if you hurt her again, I swear, I’ll make you disappear off the face of this earth.”

  Devin nodded. “Fair enough.” He glanced at his watch and was barely able to make out the numbers through the broken crystal covering, and made a mental note to look into buying a new one. “Now, I wish I knew where she was. She should have been home by now.”

  “What, you can’t summon one of your visions and check on her?”

  Devin chose to ignore the sarcasm dripping from Eric’s voice and shook his head. “I’ve only had one vision since regaining my sight, and it ended up being wrong. These things take time, and it may be awhile before they’re working correctly again. Hell, I’m still not even sure if all of my powers returned with my sight. I hope for Tess’s sake they have. She hasn’t had any nightmares in a few days, which is a good sign. She didn’t deal well with them, and it’s been a helpless feeling to sit by and know I can’t do anything to stop them.”

  Eric pursed his lips and ran a hand over his chin. “I know. I’ve never seen her so insistent about something. She was so sure about what she’d seen, I decided to check into her claims a little more. I asked the lab to run the blood taken from Travis Brighton and Gus McGovern, the elderly cancer patient from Tess’s visions. Both came back with high levels of Phenobarbital.”

  Devin’s legs shook and he sank down to the couch. “Then Tess was right, Travis was murdered,”

  Eric cocked his head to the side and nodded. “I’m afraid so. I know you and he were close. I’m really sorry.”

  With the pain of losing Travis still fresh, it was as if Eric had reopened the wound. “Thanks. So does that mean you believe us now?”

  Eric nodded. “We ran back the surveillance tapes from the cameras monitoring people entering and exiting the various wards in the hospital. On each occasion within fifteen minutes of the patient’s death, we discovered the same person entering and exiting the ward. She fit the description Tess had given me and wasn’t supposed to be working either ward at the time she was there. According to the schedules, she wasn’t even supposed to be there at all.”

  “Who?”

  “Victoria Daniels.”

  Wide eyed, Devin stared at Eric. “You have to be kidding me. Isn’t she supposed to be Tess’s best friend?”

  Eric nodded. “Which makes it much more important we warn Tess. My men are in the process of obtaining a warrant to search Tori’s apartment, car and her locker at work, but I want to make sure Tess knows.”

  Devin glanced at his watch again. “So where the hell is she?”

  The loud ringing of Eric’s cell phone caused both men to jump. Eric reached for his belt clip and flipped open the phone. “Detective Parker.”

  Eric’s face twist and turn with emotion as he listened to whoever was on the other end. “How long ago did they leave?”

  He glanced at his watch and shook his head. “I want an APB on Victoria Daniels car right away. If she’s still in the city, I want her stopped.” Without saying goodbye, he flipped the phone shut and looked at Devin. “Tess was spotted by one of our agents, leaving the hospital with Tori about fifteen minutes ago.”

  Devin’s heart practically leaped out of his chest as he jumped from his spot on the sofa. “You mean they left in the same car?”

  Eric nodded. “Tess’s explorer is still in the parking lot.” His gaze fell toward the window leading to the back yard. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  So did Devin and there wasn’t any way he was going to simply stand by and allow something bad to happen to Tess, not now when he was so close to having it all. “So what do we do?”

  “Get your coat.” Eric ordered as he started down the hall toward the front door. “If you really are psychic, now would be a fine time to conjure up those powers.”

  ****

  Tess took in her surroundings as Tori parked her car in front of the New Hope Holy Resurrection Church and shut off the engine. “We’re here.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll see.” Tori picked up the gun sitting between her legs and again pointed it at Tess. “Stay put.” Tori exited the vehicle, and moved to the passenger door. “Okay, now get out.” Tori held the door open while holding the gun at her side.

  Afraid of asking more questions and angering Tori, Tess complied with her order and climbed from the car. She walked slowly up the path leading to the church’s front doors with the muzzle of Tori’s gun firmly against her back. Her entire body shook and she had to will herself to stay calm. After eight years of working at the hospital, she’d learned things only got worse when people began to panic.

  Tori rang the bell and the two of them waited in the frigid air for someone to answer. Only a couple of minutes passed before a man, Tess guessed he was probably in his mid forties, appeared at the door. “Victoria? What’s going on?”

  “Reverend Fallsworth, I’ve brought you the sacrifice we’ve been looking for.”

  The pastor glanced between Tess and Victoria, seemingly confused by her statement. “Sacrifice?” he asked.

  “Yes, the one you’ve been talking about during your sermons.”

  The look of concern etched into his features gave Tess some hope. Maybe, if she were lucky, he’d be able to talk Tori out of doing anything stupid. She hoped so, anyway, because she certainly didn’t like the connotation the word ‘sacrifice’ carried.

  He looked at Tess and nodded. “Okay, bring her inside.”

  Silence filled the inside of the church, allowing the sound of their footsteps to echo off the walls as the three of them walked down the center aisle toward the front pews. Once seated, Reverend Fallsworth spoke again. “Victoria. I know you want to serve the Lord in the best way possible and it is honorable that you’ve brought God a living sacrifice, but for such a ceremony to work she must be a willing participant.”

  “She is, she just doesn’t know it yet,” Tori replied. “Go ahead, Tess, tell him you want to give yourself over to the Lord.”

  “Victoria, please. You can’t force someone to do what you want them to do. As long as you’re holding a gun on her, I can’t believe she will go to the Lord with open arms."

  The gun vibrated against Tess’s back and rubbed against her coat. She wondered if it was Tori pushing her to respond. Either way, she only hoped Tori didn’t slip and accidentally pull the trigger.

  “You can talk to her,” Tori said. “Make her see by giving herself to God, she will not have lived her life for nothing.”

  Reverend Fallsworth rose from his seat and slowly moved towards them. “Victoria, I know you mean well, but when I spoke of sacrifice, I meant giving of ourselves during the course of our lives.”

  “But I have given of myself. I’ve done everything the Lord has asked of me, and now I’m offering her to God as my way of thanking him for showing me the way.”

  He stepped closer and the gun disappeared from Tess’s back. Tori now pointed the weapon at the pastor. “I need you to bless her and absolve her of all her sins so she can be pure when she meets the Lord.”

  “Victoria, I really think we need to talk about this a little more. I didn’t mean a literal sacrifice. Why don’t you give me the gun before somebody gets hurt?”

  Tori shook her head in defiance. “No. I’m going to do this with or without your help.”

  “Tori, give me the gun,” he repeated before he lunged at her.

  Tess scrambled for cover as the two wrestled for the firearm. A single shot ran out, echoing through the cavernous space and Reverend Fallsworth sank to the ground, blood soaking his shirt. No longer concerned for her own safety, Tess raced to where he lay bleeding on the floor. She dropped to her knees beside him. “I’m a nurse. Let me see.”

  He moved his blood covered hand, revealing the small wound and the large amount of blood pouring out of it. Chances were the bullet had caught his liver or spleen, either way his chanc
e of survival wasn’t good if they didn’t get him to a hospital right away. Putting on her best poker face, she tried her best to reassure the man. “Okay, hopefully it’s not too bad. We need to get pressure on it.” She looked up at Tori, who stood frozen, still holding the gun. “For God’s sake, Tori, help us,” she yelled as she stripped of her coat and scarf. She first folded the scarf and placed it over his wound. “Hold this for a minute, while I check your pulse,” she said. It wasn’t sterile, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. Then she folded up her coat and proceeded to use it as a pillow for the man’s head.

  “He’s going to need medical care. We need to call an ambulance,” she said and shifted to look at Tori, only to find the place where she’d been standing now empty. “Tori?”

  A sharp prick to the back of her neck had Tess yelping in pain. She spun completely around and found Tori standing directly behind her with a needle in her hand. Fear raced through Tess as she realized Tori had injected her with something. “What did you do?” she asked as she raised a hand to the injection site.

  “I’m finishing what I started, Tess. Don’t worry, though. The amount of Propofol I gave you should knock you out so you won’t feel a thing.”

  Stark terror gripped Tess by the neck and squeezed. With her life finally on the track to happiness, Tori was about to rip it right out from under her. She glanced down at the pastor who now lay on the floor with his eyes closed. He was dying right before her, and if Tori had her way, Tess would be next. She needed to get help for both of them and now.

  Tess struggled to get to her feet, only to discover her legs would no longer hold her weight. She looked around the sanctuary and her field of vision began to shift and blur. For the drug to be taking effect so quickly, Tori must have managed to hit a vein when she injected her. Devin! Tess grabbed the amulet and held on as she fell onto her side. Her eyes closed and she silently cried for all the things she’d never get to do with him. With barely a whisper, she begged one last time. “There’s still time to get us help, Tori. Please, don’t…do…this.”