'Til Death Do Us Part

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Eliza and Tomas

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Eliza asked.

Her man in charge of the convoy was a three hundred pound bruiser that went by the handle ‘Kong’. The last time he had been as scared as he was now, he had been seven and had accidentally lit his garage on fire. His mother had sent him to his room, telling him that he would have to deal with his father. Kong’s father was a coal miner and did not suffer stupidity from anyone.

Kong—known better as Buddy back in his early years—had cried for five hours straight waiting for his dad to come home, and with good reason. Mr. Reynolds had laid down a belt whipping that on occasion still made Kong wince. Right now, he thought he’d be lucky if the worst of what he had to deal with was an ass whipping as he looked into the pitiless eyes of Eliza.

He took a quick breath before he spoke. “She got some help. A man came and broke the driver’s jaw, took his clothes and his truck.”

“Did anyone get a good look at this man?” Tomas asked.

Kong liked Tomas more than Eliza, but it was by only a matter of degrees. Like how one prefers a pit viper over a black mamba. “No. Horatio, the driver, was relieving himself when he got jumped.”

“Bring him to me,” Eliza said, seemingly bored with the proceedings.

Kong had been attempting to shield Horatio. His ploy was only going to get him so far. “Eliza, my mistress, Horatio is a good driver and they’re hard to find right now.”

“I merely wish to ask him a question or two,” Eliza replied.

Eliza was not that good of an actress. Kong knew the lie for what it was. He motioned for the men that had been caring for Horatio to bring him forward.

Horatio shuffled forward; he had never met Eliza, but he knew enough about her to be concerned. His eyes had already blackened and his jaw had puffed to nearly double its size giving him a cartoonish appearance.

Horatio had planned to stay strong, but one look at his employer and he had dropped his head.

Eliza reached out and grabbed his shattered jaw in her hand. Kong made as if to move and help the driver, then thought better of it as Eliza turned a questioning gaze on him. He wisely placed his hands down by his sides. Horatio was screaming in pain, as much as a man with a broken jaw can.

Tears rippled down his face and coated Eliza’s hand, yet she did not yield her prize. “What did the man that did this to you look like?” she asked softly.

“Mmmfff...” Horatio sobbed.

“Mistress, he cannot speak.” He almost added ‘with your hand clamped over his face’ but decided to leave that part to the wayside.

“Perhaps you should get a pen and paper,” Tomas added.

Kong motioned for one of his men to get them. Eliza did not let go until the man returned some moments later. Horatio had to be held up as he nearly collapsed to his knees. His color took on the hue of old, yellowed parchment paper.

“Write quickly,” Tomas prodded as Horatio tried to gather himself up and move past the majority of the pain.

‘I’m sorry.’ Horatio scribbled quickly, a child cresting on Red Bull would have written with less jitter.

Kong watched as the cold in Eliza’s eyes turned to heat. “Description, Horatio. What did the man look like?” he asked his driver.

‘Medium build....strong...shorts, tight shirt. Skin was pinkish like he’d been burned. Patchy facial hair, missing an eyebrow.’ He wrote diligently. He pushed the pain a little further back. ‘Tin foil hat.’

Tomas laughed at the last part.

“Something funny, brother?” Eliza asked.

“Michael Talbot is alive and apparently well, sister.”

“HOW COULD HE KNOW?” she screamed. “He stops here and takes the most important truck…how could he know?”

“Do you still doubt divine intervention?” Tomas asked.

Kong had doubted his alliance with Eliza from the first day, and now, if the other side was the one God favored, he had chosen poorly.

“This changes nothing!” she raged.

“This changes everything,” Tomas replied.

“Mistress?” Kong asked.

“I want the trucks ready to leave within the next three days,” she said turning to walk off.

He would lose a good ten percent of his fleet due to maintenance issues if they left that soon, but he would not cross Eliza. “And what of Horatio?” No sooner had he asked the question than he wished that he could retract it. She would have forgotten if he had just left it alone. Tomas bowed his head for a fraction of a second.

Eliza spun back. “No truck, no need for a driver,” she said as she again gripped his jaw.

She clenched her hand tight until Horatio’s teeth started to pop from his mouth. The bones in his jaw liquefied as she ground them together. Horatio had long since passed out as she made sure nothing structurally was left on the bottom part of his mouth. When she let go, he fell to the ground heavily. Kong had to turn away; the sight of Horatio’s caved-in face was not something he would soon forget.

There was a widening circle around Eliza, Tomas, Kong, and the dying Horatio. Those that had been curious as to how it would all play out now wanted nothing to do with it.

“Do not fail me again,” Eliza said to Kong.

He nodded.

Eliza and Tomas were heading back towards their car.

“The tinfoil is ingenious, don’t you think?” Tomas asked, goading his sister.

“Why will he not die, Tomas? You know him better than I.”

“I have known for a long time, sister, the man’s importance in this battle. I cannot begin to understand God’s design.” For the first time, Tomas thought he saw doubt creep into Eliza.

“Do you know how it turns out?” she asked.

His heart ached. This was the closest to his ‘Lizzie’ he had seen in nearly five centuries, and still he thought she might be acting for his benefit.

“I am but a player in this game, Eliza.”

“I am not a player,” she said defiantly. “I make the rules.”

“Then someone is changing the game.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Tomas was not happy with the set of Eliza’s jaw. She had something in mind, and it did not sit well with him. “Where are we going?” he asked as he started the car.

“Drive, I’ll let you know when we have arrived.”

***

“Eliza, it has been hours. Perhaps if you told me where we were going?” Tomas asked.

“I go to seek counsel. If Jehovah has broken covenant, then I will offer his counterpart the same transgression.”

Tomas brought the car to a screeching halt. “What you do now is beyond reprehension, Eliza. But even you cannot think involving the Dark One would benefit anyone…least of all the person making the bargain.”

“I merely wish to talk with the Fork-tongued One. No agreement will be struck.”

“Eliza, no!” Tomas begged.

“Just drive, the sooner we get to New Orleans, the sooner I can go and kill Michael Talbot AGAIN!”