Here Be Monsters - By M T Murphy Page 0,27
were unhappy that you got your life in order, but it was rather odd. Now we see why, you were biding your time.” He set the file in front of me and I pulled it closer.
There were the bank statements from international accounts that had transferred money to an account in my name. My eyes widened. The amount was in the high seven figures.
“Now we are assuming you got involved in something you probably didn’t want to be involved in, and we’re also assuming you want the bad men that are trying to get you involved in their illegal drug smuggling behind bars. So if you can agree to help us then we can make this all go away.”
I couldn’t explain my predicament to him. He would never understand.
In the silent confines of the interrogation room, I heard the snarling of the dogs unseen. Felt their breath heating the room around us. It sounded as if they were laughing. They were laughing at me for believing in a figment of the night, the little leprechaun of a man who had promised me things unheard of In return for my soul.
Yes, I’d made the deal. It wasn’t that I’d promised my soul with the intention of handing it over. He tricked me. It was a bait and switch and I’d done exactly what had been asked of me. Only now that the trickster was supposed to protect me when the demon came to collect my soul, he had not held up his end of the deal. The money wasn’t supposed to come until my life was safe, my soul was safe. So why did I still hear the dogs? Still feel them breathing down my neck waiting for my ten years to be up?
The door to the room opened and a man entered, providing temporary relief from the panic raging within me. He was taller than the detective by at least six inches and he had a much warmer demeanor. His hair was the color of hot chocolate, eyes a smoky gray and he had a wide, friendly smile. His face twisted in anger when he looked at the detective and he slid a stack of papers towards him.
“You have no jurisdiction here Baroni. You shouldn’t be interrogating her without legal counsel, not to mention that warrant was forged at best,” he said turning back to me as the detective scrambled through the papers.
“Hello Miss Aspara my name is Tyler Devereaux,” he said as he outstretched his hand to me. “I’m your attorney.” I shook it, immediately yanking my hand back as I felt something like fire burn in the pit of my stomach at his touch. He looked at me closely with his smoky-colored eyes. He shook his head slightly and pulled another few papers out of a leather briefcase, setting them down for the detective.
“These are signed orders for the transfer of my client to a facility in Louisiana, to receive mental and physical rehabilitation at the JerichoHillsMemorialHospital. It was signed by Judge Moretti an hour ago. So if there is nothing else you have, she is to be released into my custody for transport.”
The detective stood speechless as Tyler took me by the arm and led me from the room. We were in his dark SUV within minutes and on the freeway shortly after that. I strained my ears against the sounds of traffic but to no avail, the dogs had fallen silent. It was the confirmation I needed about Tyler and I finally calmed, facing the man next to me.
“The prophet sent you to get me?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve met a prophet?”
“Well yea, he’s the reason you’re here, the reason I made the deal with Leviathan.”
“Right, the deal with Levi,” he repeated. “So tell me more about the prophet, and what his instructions were specifically.”
“Not right now,” I yawned suddenly feeling tired. “I just want to sleep, I’ll explain more later.”
Two things happened on our almost three-day trip to Louisiana. First, I completely lost my voice due to a throat infection. Second, after a trip to the emergency room I realized nurses didn’t like Tyler for some reason. I wasn’t sure if it was simply because he looked like a pimp in comparison to me, or they simply just didn’t care for him. Two of the nurses refused to make eye contact with him, and a third had held my hand long enough to say she’d be praying for me. If I’d been feeling