Bonnie - Iris Johansen [80]
“How long have you been seeing demons?” She paused. “Does the child see the demons, too?”
“No,” he said sharply. “I’d never let her see the demons.” He whispered. “But sometimes I wonder if they’ve already got her. She won’t leave me alone.”
Move carefully. Don’t disturb the mood that was opening the gates. “Why do you think that is?”
“I’m not sure, but I have an idea now. I have to try it anyway.” He sat back on his heels and looked at her. “You’ve done well. No complaints. No whining.”
“Whining?” She made a face. “Terrible. No wonder you don’t think well of women if you’ve run into that quality.”
“I’ve always wanted to think well of them. I’ve always wanted to think well of everyone.” His face clouded. “But there are so many demons in the world. John’s parents were demons, you know.”
“I know he said they were abusive.”
“They were demons. I just didn’t recognize it at the time. They were family, and I tried to work with them to save him. If I had known, I would have destroyed them.”
“When did you start recognizing demons when you saw them?”
“Syria. One night in Syria.”
“They just appeared to you?”
“You’re trying to make me say I’m seeing things.”
“I’m trying to get you to talk to me. You promised you’d talk to me, Danner.”
“Not now.”
“Why not?”
He gazed at her. “Why not?” he repeated. “You won’t believe me.” His gaze shifted to the blazing fire. “I’d been sent into the mountains of Syria to destroy a munitions stronghold held by the militants. I planted the explosives at the building and climbed up into the rocks above the village to set them off. My captain was waiting there for me in the helicopter. I’d done a good job setting that charge. I always did a good job. I was proud of myself. I gave it another five minutes after I reached the helicopter before I pressed the button. It blew.” He swallowed. “But something was wrong. The munitions should have blown, but they didn’t. There were no explosions. Except the one I’d set off when I pressed the button. The entire building was on fire, but there were no ammo explosions.” His hand slowly clenched. “And then I saw the children. Dozens of children running out of the burning building. They were burning, too. They looked like torches in the darkness.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“It was an orphanage. We’d been fed the wrong information by our informants. They wanted to claim a U.S. atrocity. The children were burning … I could smell their charred flesh. And the ones that weren’t on fire were being picked off by snipers from the edge of the village. I went crazy. I tried to get back down to help them, but it was too late. No one else was coming out of the building. Dead. All dead. And I could see those sons of bitches coming into the village to check to make sure no child had survived.”
“My God.”
“God wasn’t there that night. Only the demons. I could see them outlined by the fire, in their dirty robes. They were dressed like Arabs, but I knew who they were, moving among those small bodies. Demons. I screamed and grabbed my rifle. I jumped out of the helicopter, but I was tackled before I got more than a few yards. My commanding officer said I couldn’t be seen there. I was going to make things worse. They had to do damage control.”
“Damage control?” she whispered. “Children.”
“They were dead, and an international situation was still to be saved. And they saved it. They bribed and coerced and made it go away.” He added, “And they wouldn’t let me go back and destroy the demons. I told them I had to do it, but they said that there were no demons that night. I couldn’t get anyone to believe me. Will you believe me, Eve?”
The story had shocked and sickened her and given her an insight into Danner that had an element of pity. Understanding was acceptable, but she could not feel sympathy. This was a man who might have killed her Bonnie. “You could convince me. Searching for Bonnie, I’ve encountered many individuals who could be demons.” She leaned forward and picked up her shoe. “Including you, Danner.” She was struggling to put on the shoe. “But I