The Eye of Moloch

Chapter 39

The Wyoming sky had become overcast and Hollis knew that sundown was only a couple of hours away. It had already been another hard day of preparations for the trip north to safety and there would be a long night of final tasks ahead.

A waist-high table was lined with a dozen open grab-and-go kits that he’d been putting together with the aid of his young helper. This job had mostly consisted of him telling Tyler Merrick what to fetch. Now the boy was late in coming back, and with just a few vital provisions still needed to fill up the survival bags, Hollis, after a few more minutes of waiting, got up to go and get what he needed himself.

As he set out for the distant pantry, along the way he confirmed something that Tyler had told him earlier: the local sheriff’s squad car was in the driveway in front. To avoid being seen Hollis made his way toward the garage through paths outside and back halls that eventually took him past his own suite.

He paused at Molly’s room and looked inside through the half-open door. It seemed she hadn’t moved since the last time he’d checked in. The curtains were drawn and her dinner tray was on the side table, still untouched. She appeared to be sleeping, but then for the most part she’d appeared that same way for several days.

Together the two of them had soldiered through a lot of difficult times, but it had never been like this; he’d never seen her adrift this long with all the wind taken out of her sails. They say that time heals all wounds. He could only hope that would begin to prove out once they’d left this latest losing battle far behind.

Hollis considered stopping in to give her some recent news and then he thought better of it. He’d received an e-mail message, supposedly from Noah Gardner, via one of her older private addresses. The message offered Molly his help, whatever that might mean. Most likely it was some attempt at subterfuge, and whoever knew enough about their relationship to fake that note also knew enough to be a real threat. Even if it was actually Gardner who’d written it, though, it could be just as dangerous. Real or not, encouragement from a message like that was the last thing Molly needed to receive at the moment.

Since their last ill-fated meeting, the other members of his party had also been keeping to themselves and he’d seen very little of them. Meanwhile, the Merricks were all occupied with serious concerns of their own. It was becoming clear that they were the targets of a dedicated smear campaign, and the regional press had begun to relay some of these stories without even questioning their truth. There’d been three visits so far from the law, including this one from the sheriff that very afternoon. The first two were official but this time he’d evidently come calling off-duty, apparently to offer some unauthorized legal counsel to his old friends.

Along his route Hollis paused in the shadows near enough to the front door so he could overhear a bit of the conversation. As unbelievable as it sounded, the sheriff had come with his deputies to let this family know that they were soon to be the subjects of a federal terrorism investigation.

At length Hollis moved on, and before long he came to the small outbuilding that contained the supplies he needed. He opened up the metal door, but before he could step inside, the boy Tyler came running up to him, breathless.

“Oh man, I’m glad I found you,” Tyler said. “Come on, my great-grandmother wants to see you.”

Hollis frowned. “Well, I sure as hell don’t want to see her.”

“No, you don’t understand. When she asks for you, you go. Believe me, you don’t want her coming after you.”

“Did she say what she wanted with me?”

“She never does. You’ll find out when you get there.” The boy reclosed the cooler door and locked down the handle. “Come on, seriously.”

“I ain’t ready for this,” Hollis said.

“You don’t know how true that is. Now let’s go,” Tyler said, and they started off. “I’ll take you as far as the last hallway and then you’re on your own.”