Reign of Evil

Laws had explained it well. “Sometimes the death doesn’t mean anything except in context for the living. I think your brother’s death can help you understand the man. I didn’t know him, but I know people who did and they all say he was a great SEAL and a terrific guy. He was a shepherd without a flock. I think he punished himself for not being able to take care of you and sought out avenues where he could take care of others.”

Walker almost laughed. He could absolutely relate. He flashed to Jen, realizing that he’d been feeling his own guilt, wondering if things would have been different had he been there. He struggled to shake the idea free. It was drama. She was gone. The only thing he could do now was stop the thing that killed her and find a way to release her soul, if what the witch said was true. That was his single focus. Blame could wait, if it was ever levied at all.

The Globemaster came to a halt. Aircrew from the RAF ran up and chocked the wheels. Then the rear ramp descended. First out was a pearl-white Cadillac Escalade with smoked-out windows. An unfamiliar man sat behind the wheel. He pulled the car down the ramp.

Behind him came the SEALs, each carrying several go bags.

Holmes, Laws, YaYa, and Yank.

Walker felt elation shoot through him. These were his boys.

When they got closer, he started toward them. He grinned but kept his head down. The closer he got to them, the more full the feeling was in his chest. They dropped their bags and, as one, embraced him. He felt the dam burst and he began to sob. They surrounded him, protecting him, keeping the world at bay, so he could mourn in the comfort of his company of friends.

Ten minutes later, after introductions, Holmes had Genie bring out Van Dyke. The man’s wrists and ankles had been zip-tied, but as Van Dyke stood him on the tarmac Genie cut the zip ties on his ankles.

Van Dyke stretched his legs, limping slightly from a bandaged gunshot wound. As disheveled as he was, he carried himself with a certain elegance. With his chin up and his eyes staring straight, he let Genie march him into the hangar. He sat in a chair that had been set up in front of the others. Genie zip-tied his feet to the chair’s front legs, then stood and backed away. YaYa handed him an HK416. He took it and held it ready.

Holmes and Ian had the floor. They bade everyone have a seat.

Sassy refused. Instead, she pointed at Van Dyke. “Do you even know what you have here?”

Walker watched as Holmes appraised her. The SEAL team leader knew she was a witch. Walker had relayed every aspect of their interactions. That said, he was curious how Holmes would deal with her.

“We’re hoping you can help with that, Ms. Sassy.”

Walker grinned, knowing it was an intentional error. Holmes, however, stood straight-faced.

“Sassy is my first name.”

“Of course it is. What was your question, ma’am?”

She dropped her arm and gave Holmes a look. Then she turned and approached Van Dyke, her high heels clipping against the concrete floor. She began to circle him, her arms crossed, her face with an air of appraisal. She leaned in and sniffed, then made a face. She backed away and moved her fingers and hands over her face and chest, as if she were casting a spell. When she was done, she looked at Holmes.

“You say he was in America?”

Holmes nodded.

“Was he being kept prisoner by any chance?”

“How’d you know?” Laws stepped forward carrying a box, which he sat on one of the tables at the front of the room.

“Not that I’ve ever seen one before, but they’d be able to escape given a chance.” She concentrated on Van Dyke, who’d been watching her the entire time, his face shifting back and forth between interest and fear. “You have a tattoo?”

Van Dyke nodded and looked pointedly to his left breast.

She waved a hand at the area. “Can someone please remove his shirt?”

Laws came over and ripped the buttons free of the shirt, revealing three interconnected crescent moons.

The witch hissed. She held her hand out toward the tattoo and it glowed gold. Then she spun. “How in the seven bloody hells did someone get a Tuatha Dé Dannan inside this man?”

Laws walked over to Yank, who pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and passed it over.

“I told you she’d know,” Laws said.

Yank looked anything but pleased.

Sassy suddenly looked concerned. “You knew what it was and you brought it here?”

“Here’s our thinking.” Holmes moved to the front of the room and opened the box. He was the only one in position to see inside it. He glanced in, then turned to Sassy Moore. “Hubert Van Dyke is on the board of the Red Grove. A money trail can be traced from the group of druids who usually perform the Winter Solstice ceremony at Stonehenge to the Red Grove. Mr. Van Dyke also sits on the board of the Bohemian Grove, which has long been rumored to be a place where rich men go to get even richer. When we went to see him, we found in his employ a golem, which was not only acting as his housekeeper but was also guarding him.”

Holmes tipped the box so the golem’s head rolled out.