31

It had taken him several days to decide exactly when he was going to take her, but he was ready to move. Laura had gone to church this morning, and they had a Sunday evening service too. He would wait to see if she attended that one this evening and if she went alone. If so, he would grab her after the service. He couldn’t take her at the church. He would wait outside her apartment, which he’d learned was over the garage at the house where he’d followed her before. It would be dark, and the treelined street would provide the perfect covering.

Excitement bubbled up inside him. It was almost time. He’d created the perfect way to disperse the virus. No one would suspect a man carrying a package. He planned to bump up against passengers waiting for planes and trains. They probably wouldn’t feel the tip of the needle pierce their skin. If they did, he doubted they would pay attention to it. But they would carry the virus to other states, other countries. It was so virulent it wouldn’t take long for many people to be infected.

Planes were hothouses for germs. His victims would be touching the overhead compartment, their seats, the armrests, everything in the bathrooms. So many others on the plane would touch the same surfaces. Then they would change planes and carry the virus onto the next flight.

Then back to Union Station. A few pricks here and there. His last visit would be to area hospitals. When patients began to pour in, they’d discover that nurses and doctors had already infected hundreds of people. It would be a pandemic beyond anything ever experienced.

He smiled to himself. But first the last sacrifice.

Tonight the world would change forever.

Alex spent Friday and Saturday working at the command post. She, Logan, and Monty continued assessing what Walker’s next move might be, even though she felt they’d done just about everything they could with the information they had. Jimmy was still being questioned. Alex could tell he was tired, but everyone was doing all they could to find Walker’s sixth target before it was too late.

They’d also come up short exploring Walker’s connection to Wichita. Other than Jimmy’s news that Walker had attended a couple of Circle meetings with his and Willow’s group, they had nothing. Jimmy didn’t even know how Walker knew about their group, let alone why he chose to check it out. Maybe Harrison had been right. Maybe Walker was looking for minions to help him fulfill the prophecy even then. Just like he’d somehow managed to connect with the chemist in Ethiopia.

Walker’s fifth victim, the one found at Union Station, had been identified—Gerald Gregg. He was a maintenance worker at the station. The police and railroads had clamped down so tightly that Walker had clearly been forced out of his comfort zone.

The maintenance supervisor hadn’t tried to contact Gregg when he didn’t show up for work. He was a single man that no one might miss for days. That was sad.

Alex realized she had a lot in common with him. She had no family. Well, a father somewhere who wanted nothing to do with her. And no real friends. She didn’t really care. She had her work, and she had Krypto. She missed him so much. She wondered if he was missing her too. He loved the Stewarts, the neighbors who cared for him when she had to leave town. The FBI would let her take him on assignment when possible, but this time she knew she would have to be in both Wichita and Kansas City. Bringing him along would have been too difficult. She’d been certain he would be much happier staying with the Stewarts.

It was important to her that Krypto felt safe. He’d been badly abused by his previous owner, and when he was dumped at the animal shelter, his chances of being adopted were small. He was timid and afraid, and he sat in the back of his pen, refusing to look at anyone. Being a pit bull made finding a home for him even less likely. But when Alex went to the pound to find a dog, she was drawn to him. She returned several days in a row, sitting in his pen with him, talking to him. Eventually, he moved out of the corner and put his head in her lap. The first time she looked into his sad eyes, that was it. He was hers. She took him home the next day and named him Krypto, determined to ensure he’d never be hurt again.

After some time of healing and learning to trust, he’d turned into one of the sweetest dogs Alex had ever known. He won over the Stewarts when one of their house cats got out. When they realized Maizie was gone, they looked all over the neighborhood. They finally found her in Alex’s backyard, curled up with Krypto, both of them sound asleep. Maizie and Krypto were now great friends, and the Stewarts treated Krypto like their own.

Mike had answered every question he could before heading back to Wichita. He wasn’t scheduled to come back to Kansas City unless he remembered something important and they needed him there. Frankly, she felt useless. Harrison had told her, Logan, and Monty to stay at the hotel Sunday and rest. They were all exhausted, so they were relieved to have some time to recharge. But they were also frustrated. They’d pulled the information they had apart and put it back together so many times it didn’t make sense anymore.

They’d read through most of The Book too. That had been disappointing. Most of it was nonsense about how the world was formed by the Master, who planned to reign after the angels and demons fought in that final war. They found several mentions of the God worshiped on the earth that was considered false. The writer of The Book clearly hated other religions. They also scanned the pages Walker had referred to in his letters. Nothing new there either.

Alex recognized several sections Willow had quoted to her. Frankly, it bothered her to read them. It was as if she could hear Willow’s voice speaking the words.

She woke up around ten Sunday morning. The nightmare had tried to come back again. She’d fought it, waking up several times with tears streaming down her face. Finally, about four in the morning, she’d fallen asleep, passing out from sheer exhaustion. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat there a moment, getting her bearings. Then she got up and went into the bathroom to shower.

She’d picked up some milk and cereal on the way back to the hotel last night. The three of them weren’t meeting until lunch because they all wanted to sleep late. She’d stuck all the dishes on the kitchen shelves in the dishwasher and washed them as soon as she had a chance. They might have been clean, but who could tell? She dumped some cereal into one of the bowls, then grabbed the milk out of the fridge.

A few minutes later she was sitting on the couch in the living area, watching TV. She’d also made coffee, but she wouldn’t drink much because she hoped to catch another nap. She’d put a note on the door asking the maid service to come by after eleven to change the sheets and towels. She wanted to be there when they did it. She suspected they sometimes just left the dirty sheets on the bed. Clean sheets made her feel safer.

She was flipping channels when she stumbled across a service from a large, nationally known church. She wasn’t going to watch, but the minister started talking about how much God loves people. How they’re the apple of His eye. Alex chuckled. She’d met some people she doubted God would love.

As if he’d read her thoughts, the minister said, “That means everyone. Even hardened criminals. Serial killers. Everyone. Every single person on the earth was born to be a child of God. For many reasons, you may find yourself far away from Him. Maybe you had an awful childhood. Maybe someone you loved walked out. Maybe your friends have rejected you. But if you give God a chance to be involved in your life, I promise you, He’ll never leave you. Never forsake you. You will be loved completely. He will give you beauty for your ashes. He will heal your broken life.”

He looked into the camera, and Alex felt distinctly uncomfortable. It was as if he were talking right to her. “Will you give yourself to Him today? Let Him change your life? He’s created a wonderful plan just for you. He wants to give you hope and a future that’s beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.” He pointed toward the floor in front of the stage. “If that’s you, come down front and let us pray for you.”

A woman behind him began to sing a song about being washed in the blood of the Lamb. Alex was riveted to the screen. As if her eyes were opened and she could see into the thoughts of the Train Man. What if Walker wasn’t just looking for a Christian but for a brand-new convert? A woman who hadn’t had time to lose her newfound virginity. It made sense. Walker hated the Christian God, but he seemed to have learned something about Christianity. He wanted to kill one of God’s virgins, and he had to be sure he’d found one.

She took a deep, quick breath and conjured up the memory of her one time in a church. The only way he’d find this woman was to watch her make that commitment, standing in front of the church and praying with someone for salvation.

She jumped up and grabbed her phone. Seconds later she had Harrison on the line. “Look, I know this is a long shot, but it might make our search a little easier.” She quickly told him what she was thinking. “What if the police contact churches in the area we believe Walker is working and ask for the names of women who came forward for salvation Wednesday night . . . or this morning. I think Walker watched for them at a church, and he’s probably already targeted one.”

“It’s not such a long shot,” Harrison said slowly. “Like you said, it makes some sense. Walker hates Christians, and the description of the virgin being ‘washed in blood . . .’” He sighed. “We need to check it out. We don’t have anything else. Thanks, Alex.” He paused for a moment. “You stay there. Get some rest. If I need you, I’ll call and let you know.”

“I’d rather come in if it’s all right with you,” she said. “I want to be there to help in any way I can. I’m meeting Monty and Logan for lunch, and I’ll head your way after that.”

“All right. But tell Monty and Logan they don’t need to come back today.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Alex disconnected the call, then sat down on the couch again and turned up the TV’s volume. The camera showed people gathered in front of the stage. All kinds of people. Young, old, different ethnic groups. All of them appeared to be truly touched. Tears streamed down the faces of most of them. How was this any different from what people in the Circle believed? Her own words came back to her. “From what I’ve heard about Christians, they believe people can change.” The Book said nothing about that. People’s lives had been decided for them. They had no choice. Adam Walker believed he was fulfilling some destiny already designed for him.

Christianity gave you a choice, though. It was probably one of the reasons he hated it. But what about this “plan” the preacher talked about? Was it the same thing? Did God have your life all planned out? Alex had felt such a tug at her heart when the minister spoke, but she knew what she wanted out of life. What if God called her to . . . be a missionary in some other country? She shivered at the thought. Might be nice for some people, but not for her. She doubted she could ever be a Christian if she had to surrender her future to God. She didn’t know Him. Didn’t trust Him. Didn’t trust anyone.

She’d just downed the last of her coffee when her phone rang. Logan. She didn’t really want to go to lunch with him and Monty. She was still fighting her fear of germs, and it continued to be a struggle.

“Stop it, Alex,” she said out loud. “You don’t have to do this. You can stop. You’ve done it before.” But when she answered her phone, her hand shook.

“Good morning,” Logan said. He sounded sleepy.

“Good morning,” she answered back, trying to sound chipper.

“Hey, I just got up. It will take me a while to get ready. Where do you want to have lunch?”

“Why don’t you and Monty go without me? I’m going back to the CP.” She shared her thoughts about Walker and new converts to Christianity. “I called Harrison and suggested that Walker might be trolling churches, looking for a woman who . . . who . . .”

“Accepts Christ?” Logan said.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” It sounded odd to hear him say it like that. She’d never felt Logan was pushy about his religion. Still, something about the vernacular embarrassed her. It sounded so . . . hokey.

“What did he say?”

“He thought they should follow up on it. Once again, he’s having the police contact churches in the area where we think Walker is hunting, this time for information about recent converts. It seems like a stretch, I know, but we’ve run out of ideas. The strange thing is it matches Walker’s psychology. He wants a woman he’s certain is a virgin—who knows about a woman who converted years ago?—and it helps him to strike back at the God he hates and thinks is false.”

“So he hates Christians, but he’s willing to accept the belief that someone who converts to Christianity is cleansed? Wow. That really doesn’t make sense.”

“I think it might to him. Gives him a perfect way to offer a sacrifice to his god. In his delusion, Walker sees this as a truly divine sacrifice.”

Logan was quiet for a moment. “Well, it’s worth looking into, I guess. Hey, if you’ll wait a bit, I’ll go in with you.”

“What about lunch?”

“We can pick up something on the way. I want to see if we can help identify Walker’s sixth target before it’s too late. I’d like to look more closely at your new-convert idea.”

“Okay. How fast are you?”

“Faster than you think. I’ll come over when I’m ready.”

“You’ll call Monty?”

“Sure. My guess is he’ll want to come.”

“Yeah, probably.” Monty had worked tirelessly since he’d arrived in Kansas City. She was certain he’d want to be with them.

“You okay?” Logan asked.

Fear slithered up her spine. “I’m fine. Why are you asking?”

“Because of the other night. If you need to talk, I’m always here.”

“I appreciate that, but I’m fine. Let’s just concentrate on finding Walker, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be by in a bit.”

When he hung up, Alex stared at the phone. She should have kept her life private. Why had she shared any of it with Logan? Had she made a terrible mistake? The answer to that question terrified her.