Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [705]
“Timmy, you still don’t recognize him, do you?”
There was silence and now he could hear her breathing. She was breathing too hard to be in control.
“It’s Father Keller,” she said.
And she yanked him away from the wall for Timmy to see his face. The boy now looked at him like he was some monster. Keller saw him stepping back even farther into the room before she smashed his face into the wall again. This time he heard the gun make some weird click when she pressed it into his temple.
“What are you doing, Agent O’Dell?”
“What I should have done back in that tunnel. You remember that dark hole under the cemetery? The one where you shoved your fillet knife into my side.”
“You’re wrong. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you should—”
“Maybe if I had, little boys like Arturo would still be alive. How many others have there been, Keller?”
“You can’t do this. You’re an FBI agent.” He didn’t recognize his own voice, a high-pitched whine, almost a cry.
“And my job as an FBI agent is to hunt down and destroy evil.”
Was she possessed? He wanted to turn and look at her, but he was afraid the slightest move and she might use it as an excuse to pull the trigger. His stomach ached. His face throbbed and he tried to keep from sobbing or the blood running down his throat would choke him.
Someone banged on the door and his heart skipped a beat. O’Dell, however, didn’t seem to flinch. Her hold remained steady.
“Police,” someone called from the other side of the door. “Open up.”
Keller held his breath. O’Dell didn’t move. Not an inch. It felt like the muzzle was making a hole in the side of his head.
“O’Dell?” the voice called. “It’s Pakula. Are you okay?”
Silence except for her heavy breathing and an annoying whining sound. Oh God, the whine was coming from deep inside his throat.
“O’Dell? Are you in there? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she finally said and adjusted her hold on his arm.
“I’m coming in.”
There was a pause and then Keller saw the door begin opening slowly. He lifted his face away from the wall only to have it shoved back, this time knocking the side of his head. But he could see Detective Pakula’s alarm before the detective was able to disguise it.
“Whadya doing, O’Dell?”
“What I should have done four years ago.”
“Come on, O’Dell.” He saw Pakula look around them. “It looks like the kid is okay.”
“But he wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t gotten here.”
“You okay, son?” Pakula called out to Timmy.
“Yeah.” But Keller noticed the boy’s voice wasn’t very convincing, weak and small.
“I didn’t do anything to him. We just talked.” Keller tried to defend himself.
“If he’s done something, we’ll take care of him,” Detective Pakula told her, but she still didn’t ease up. “Come on, O’Dell.”
Keller could see that the detective was close enough to reach out and touch her, take the gun away. Why didn’t he? He could stop her. He needed to stop her.
“Timmy,” she said without flinching. “Go with Detective Pakula.”
Keller didn’t hear the boy move.
This time she yelled, “Now!” And he heard Timmy rush out, squeezing past them.
“I didn’t hurt him,” Keller pleaded. He knew exactly why she was making the boy leave. She didn’t want him to see what she was going to do. She didn’t want him to have nightmares.
“O’Dell,” Detective Pakula said, checking to make sure the boy was safe in the hallway. Keller could see the detective was becoming anxious. “Come on. You don’t want to do this.”
Keller started whining again, sobs with chokes. Then all of a sudden he was free.
O’Dell pulled the gun away. She dropped his arm. He stayed pressed against the wall, not trusting her. He didn’t move until she pushed past Detective Pakula. And even then