The Dark Ones Read Online Free

mental state is undiminished, I assure you.”
    “What about services?”
    “Mansfield is covering for me. Hopefully he won’t put them to sleep with his sermon.”
    Sandra nodded. “He has been known to be a bit dry.”
    “Dear, the Gobi Desert is dry. That man is parched and cracked.”
    She sat on the bed next to him. “Is it June? Is she sick?”
    Frank shook his head.
    “Are you sick, do you not want to tell me?”
    “Fit as a fiddle.”
    “Your cholesterol is two hundred and thirty.”
    “Cholesterol is a state of mind.”
    “Not according to your last blood test,” Sandra said.
    He signed his name at the bottom of the note, tore the sheet from the pad, and handed it to her. She took it reluctantly and read it over. Then she said, “What will I tell people?”
    “Just as the note says. Something urgent has come up and hopefully I will return to worship with them as soon as possible. The church is in good hands. The Elders will take care of things.”
    “You still haven’t told me what this is about.”
    And I’m not going to , he thought. If he showed her that article about the massacre in Iowa, and then told her it was somehow related to his trip, she would put a padlock on the front door. “Urgent business.”
    “You’re not gambling, are you?” Sandra said. “Have you gone beyond poker? You can tell me.”
    Frank turned to her. He placed his hands on her bony shoulders. He saw moisture in her eyes and it felt like hell seeing tears and knowing he caused them.
    “You’re coming back, aren’t you?”
    He leaned forward and smacked a kiss on her cheek. “I love you. And I hope so.”
    “Frank?”
    Had to be honest, didn’t you? “I have every intention of coming back.”
    “What if something breaks, the hot water tank goes, or that roof starts leaking again, you know, near the chimney?”
    He patted her on the leg. “Millard’s number is in the black phone book in the drawer. For you, he’ll be here at a moment’s notice.”
    “If he answers his phone.”
    “Be nice.”
    “Will you at least tell me where you’re going to be?”
    No harm in telling her that. “Buffalo, New York.”
    Her face twisted up, and seeing that stung him. He may as well have said one of the moons of Jupiter.
    “What’s in Buffalo?”
    He could tell her everything. About the Enemy, about the murders in Iowa and how it connected, about David and the other Guardians, and the girl, but it was too late and he had a long road ahead. Besides, she wouldn’t believe him. She’d think he had seen it on the X-Files and chalk it up to his overactive imagination.
    “I hear they have good chicken wings,” he said, and stood up.
    Sandra stood, too. She placed her hand in the center of his chest. “Is there—is there someone else?”
    Frank shook his head. He was ripping her apart. He had to get out of here. She had that worried look again, the same one that had stayed etched on her face the time his appendix burst and the resulting infection and fever burned through him. But she had never left his hospital bed, and here he was, ducking out with almost no explanation.
    “No one else. Just something I have to do.”
    With that, he leaned forward and kissed her, and to his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his and kissed him long and hard. He tasted apple cinnamon tea on her lips; as she drew away, she said, “I’m scared.”
    She worried too much. Every plane trip was sure to end with a 747 going into the Atlantic, every road trip to a neighboring church might turn into a fiery wreck. He needed to reassure her. “I’ll be home before you know it.”
    “And that will be?” Sandra said.
    “Just as soon as I can.”
     
     
    Mike O’Donnell took a drag on his Kool and blew smoke into the air. From his Monte Carlo, he looked up at the Hark Company’s warehouse. A forklift was parked out front, and next to it was a stack of pallets. He watched the big roll-up door, now