CHAPTER 20
Driving in the rain was never a bother to me, but with so much running through my mind, I could barely concentrate on the road. In one afternoon I had gone from having a friend who was mad at me to having a friend that was secretly in love with me and a significant other bound by an Angel’s Promise who had known it long before me. I was in a complete and total state of confusion. All I could think about right now was how good a hot bath would feel with some bath salts, essential oils, candles, and soft music. I might not become okay with all of this today, but I could take some serious steps in the direction of relaxation inside the confines of my garden tub as soon as I walked in the door at home.
“I’m proud of you, Matalyn!” a voice said, startling me half to death!
Instantly I swerved across the line, marking the shoulder of the highway as I nearly panicked.
“Careful now, we wouldn’t want to do scratch the paint,” Natasha said from the passenger seat, where she had materialized from thin air.
“Where did you come from?” I asked, trying to calm my heart rate.
“I’m an angel, remember? I show up when I have information that you need to know.”
“Yeah, I got that part. I am just a little concerned with how you got into my car going seventy down the highway. You could at least give some kind of a warning signal or announcement of some kind before you do that when I’m in the process of operating a motor vehicle,” I scolded.
“I’m sorry about that. It’s just this couldn’t wait. Matalyn, you need to be very careful.”
“If you’re here to give me a verbal spanking over the ordeal that recently took place, please don’t. I’ve already heard it from six people, and trust me, I get it okay?”
“Yes and no. You are right that the situation was far less than ideal, but we have bigger problems now. Damron knows where you are now for sure. It was only a matter of time before he figured out you were still in the area, Mattie, but he is closing in now.”
“Yeah, I thought he would before too long, considering Lena probably told him all about the other night.”
“Don’t think it’s so simple, Mattie! Who do you think sent Lena to you? Damron’s had eyes on you for a while. Only now does he feel it is time to keep trying to make his move.”
“Right, but it didn’t work. Remember? Avan pretty much stomped his stupid little follower that he sent to do all his dirty work.”
“That is where the trouble lies, I’m afraid. You see, Mattie, Avan did what he had to do to protect you. With the permission he needed from the higher angels, Ian was sent to an eternity in hell with no chance of coming back to the earth. As a result, Damron is angrier now than he ever has been to this point.”
“After seeing how things turned out the last time he tried to get to me, I’m not worried. Besides, everyone has made me promise to be careful and communicate,” I reassured her.
“Oh, Matalyn, this is what I was afraid of. You are right that the angels you are around are truly amazing, but please don’t underestimate the enemy that lies just in the shadows.”
“Nice of you to give me such a vote of confidence. I know I am the screw-up angel, okay? This isn’t just fun and games for me despite what you might think, so if you don’t mind, I have other things on my mind right now.”
“Matalyn, you know I am only allowed to intervene when it is very important. You have to be extra careful. Please promise me you will be very cautious. By the way, I found this in the floor at the hotel room and had a feeling you might be missing it,” Natasha replied as my charm bracelet magically appeared dangling from my wrist.
“My bracelet! Wait, you were there?” I asked, perplexed.
“Only to see the aftermath of what happened.”
“You said earlier that you were proud of me. Why?” I couldn’t stop myself from wondering aloud.
“You stood true to your bond of the Angel’s Promise that you made to Avan.”
“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”
“When you’re an angel in a world of humans, sometimes it is easy to feel conflicted the way they often do. When to people you care about are so genuine with their feelings, your vision can become clouded. Humans tend to break vows and promises when something else they feel strongly for is right in front of them rather than being faithful to what they have. Being raised as a human child and still being inside a human body, I can only imagine this was a million times harder for you,” Natasha explained.
“Oh, well, I guess when you put it that way it doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Listen, Mattie, I don’t know when we will see one another again, but I need you to be very careful in everything that you do. I know I have told you all of this before and am beginning to sound similar to a broken record, but I swear to you, the time of overcoming your enemies is close. Do not underestimate darkness!” Natasha warned.
“I thought good always overcame evil.”
“It’s true in most cases, but it is never an easy victory nor is it a small battle. Be careful, special angel,” Natasha said, and then she was gone.
The sky was dark and the highway was all but deserted with the exception of the occasional semi that sped past, its tires blowing water from the road all over my windshield, which impaired my vision. In turn, this caused me to step on the brakes, slowing down until I felt I could see the road clearly again. It was one of those evenings where I kept having to turn on the defrost to keep the windshield, windows, and mirrors from fogging up. The only problem with this was that I kept burning up. At first I tried my windshield wipers, quickly coming to the decision that they were worthless when the fog was on the inside of the glass.
I was trying to text Avan to let him know I was on my way. Even though we have the angel mind melt going on, it was nice to get a normal message once in a while. Against my better judgment when I dropped my cell phone in the floorboard my first instinct was to retrieve it. It was times like these I was thankful my car had cruise control even though my dad had always instructed me never to use that function when the streets were wet. Pushing the cruise control button to set my speed, I spotted my phone underneath the gas pedal. Easing my shoe under the pedal and slowly pulling the little black lump of black toward the car seat, I was trying to be careful to keep glancing at the highway in the process. I was also paranoid that I was swerving, so I kept checking my mirrors for flashing lights of any kind behind me.
I finally got the phone within my reach as I took a deep breath and bent down to grab it. It only took a second and a small swerve out of the lane, but sure as the world, when I raised back up, there were those dreaded blue and red lights in my rearview mirror. I slowly pulled to into the shoulder of the highway.
Going over the scenario in my mind the odds did not seem as though they would come out in my favor, no matter how I turned them. Next, I thought maybe if I could come up with a good excuse of why I was swerving in the road while driving, then perhaps I could make him feel sorry for me. I even considered flirting to get off the hook without a citation, but I was fairly certain that wouldn’t end up in my favor either.
Instead of coming up with schemes to evade the inevitable, I decided to sit back and await my fate. Soon I heard the tap on my window.
Rolling the window down, I looked up to see an officer in his late forties with a stern look on his face, which told me that he was not excited to have to get out of his car in this weather. His eyes were hard and he had permanent frown marks on his forehead from obviously being a discontented individual. “Evening, ma’am,” said the officer.
“Good evening.”
“Ma’am, do have your license and registration on you?”
“Yes sir, it’s in my glove compartment. May I get it out?”
“Do you have any concealed weapons kept in the glove compartment?” he asked with a gruff voice.
“No sir, just my insurance card,” I replied.
“Go ahead.”
I opened the glove compartment and retrieved my insurance card as well as my license out of my purse before handing them out the window to the officer.
“Are you, Matalyn Holland?”
“Yes sir, I am.”
“Ms. Holland, is the information on your license still correct as it shows you living at Angel Towers?” he questioned.
“Yes sir, everything is correct.”
“All right, sit tight. I’ll be right back. I gotta run your license.”
Once again the officer turned toward his car and his heavy footsteps clomped on the ground. I watched him open the door of his cruiser and slide into the driver’s seat, picking up his radio. Within a few minutes he got back out of his car and started clomping his big, black boots back down the pavement, bringing him back to my car door.
“Ms. Holland, do you know why I pulled you over?” the officer inquired just as gruffly as before.
“Yes sir. I believe I was swerving.”
“Yes ma’am, when you passed me at mile marker seventy-three, you were weaving all over the road.”
“Yes, I dropped my phone. I’m sorry; I just bent down to pick it up and swerved,” I tried to explain.
“Ms. Holland, have you had anything to drink this evening?” the officer asked as his eyes were busy trying to burn a hole through my head.
“No sir, I don’t drink at all.”
“Would you agree to take a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer?”
“Sure, I’ll do whatever I need to. I have nothing to hide, because I am not a drinker!”
“Ma’am, please step out of your vehicle and stand at the front of the car.”
“May I ask why you can’t just give me a breathalyzer test? All I did was drop my phone! I was afraid I would have a wreck. it was under the gas pedal,” I tried explaining again as my foot slipped on the wet pavement.
“Ma’am, I do not need your excuses. I just need you to cooperate, okay? Help yourself out here and just do as I ask.”
“Okay.”
“See this line?” he asked mockingly.
“Yes sir, I see it.”
“I need you to walk heel to toe for nine paces along this line. Then I want you to turn and walk heel to toe nine paces back. Do you understand what I’m asking you to do?”
“Yes sir, I understand.”
Stepping onto the line I steadily walked nine paces heel to toe, turned, and walked nine more heel to toe back to where I started without a flaw.
“Thank you, ma’am. Now I’m gonna need you to balance on one foot and say your alphabet for me.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m kiddin’ you?”
“All right! All right! Have it your way!”
I lifted my left foot to where I was only balancing on my right foot and said the alphabet.
“Thank you, now what I need you to do is follow my pen with your eyes without moving your head.”
“Sure thing, Sparky,” I replied with agitation and attitude.
The officer held up a pen and moved it steadily from one side to the other as I followed it with my eyes.
“Are we done now? I’d like to have your badge number and the station you work out, of because this is clearly harassment!” I stated, as collected as I could.
“Ma’am, you need to calm down before I arrest you for obstruction!” the officer shot back at me.
“It’s obvious I passed the test. Can you just write me a ticket so I can go home now?” I hissed, ignoring his previous threat.
“Ms. Holland, I’m gonna warn you one more time to control your mouth, or you will be arrested is that clear?” he spouted as his face began to turn red.
“Crystal!” I snapped at him.
“Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back,” the officer instructed.
“I thought you said I had one last warning,” I stated with a rather cocky tone in my voice.
“I lied!” he whispered in my ear as he slapped the handcuffs onto my wrists.
“I’ll be out in no time, so this is really all a big waste, you know that right?” I smirked.
“Ms. Holland, you are under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you free of charge if you so choose. Do you understand?” I nodded.
Once I was in the backseat of the cruiser, I could not help but remember how much it reminded me of the one I had been in the night of my parents’ death. Under normal circumstances this would have been enough to throw me into an emotional frenzy, but there was no way I was going to let this harassing, over dramatic punk see me cry and have the satisfaction that he was the tough guy who broke me down. I am sure Avan would just love it when he had to come pick me up from jail! Once again, I screwed everything up—big surprise.
I stayed as quiet as a mouse the entire ride, not making a sound. I was too afraid that I would end up giving him more ammunition to use in his stupid charge against me. It was bad enough that I was going to have to explain myself to Avan as I confessed that my attitude problem got me arrested. The last thing I needed was to have some judge punish me by sentencing me with mandatory anger management classes. I had decided I was going to remain silent until Avan came to get me out, only answering yes and no questions until we got there, when we drove right past the police station.
“Where are you taking me? The police station was back there,” I yelled from the backseat.
“I’m aware of that, Ms. Holland. Just sit back and shut up!” he bellowed.
“Where are we going?”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll be there soon enough and you can see for yourself.”
“Are you insane? Take me back to the police station!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Ms. Holland. I did not really have a legitimate reason for arresting you, so if I take you there I’d be the one in trouble. Besides that, I’m pretty sure the gentleman who wants to see you is getting a little frustrated it’s taking us so long.”
“What gentleman?” I demanded.
Everything was wrong and I felt with everything I had. I was in potentially the worst situation I had ever gotten myself into.
“Who wants to see me? Who are you working for? Tell me now!” I screamed.
“Ms. Holland, your best bet is to sit back and shut your mouth,” he threatened.
I tried concentrating as hard as I could on trying to control the car, but it was no use. I could not do anything to it no matter how hard I tried. I leaned back on the seat feeling defeated.
“I guess I should’ve mentioned earlier that my boss made some modifications to the car. Whatever you’re trying to do back there won’t work, Ms. Holland,” the officer said with a slow low rumble of a laugh.
The car made a turn, heading into to a parking lot by the beach with a black limousine waiting at the far end. The cruiser pulled around and came to a stop as the officer got out of the car and waited by the hood. It had gotten so dark outside I could not make out anything but a dark figure wearing a long black coat and hat emerging from the limousine. Immediately I remembered the dark outfit that Allen used to wear when he was trying to leave hints for me about my past.
I wanted to see his face to make sure it was him. Who else could want to see me without wanting to reveal their identity and show up in the same dark clothing he had so many times before? I could hardly contain myself as the figure made its way over to the font of the cruiser where the officer stood. I could not hear what they were saying, but I could tell from the officer’s body language that he was not happy by any means.
All of a sudden the officer advanced toward the dark figure, aggressively pushing whoever it was back a few steps. The figure regained its balance, and what happened next blew my mind. I saw the figure reach inside the long, dark coat at the same time the officer reached for his gun. I wanted to close my eyes and look away in hopes that anything else would be prevented, but it was not an option since it was happening right in front of me. The moonlight bounced off something in the dark figure’s hand, revealing a shiny, metal object. With the sound of two loud shots, the officer fell to the ground, lifeless and void of any movement.
I could not believe what I had just seen take place! I watched the figure kneel beside the officer, checking for a pulse before standing and turning its attention to the cruiser. My heart dropped, and I suddenly forgot how to breathe. It was clear now that this could not be Allen Hearsch and whoever it was intended to capture me. This meant one thing—the figure that was coming toward the car was working for Damron. This also meant that Natasha had been right and once again, I had put what she said in the back of my mind without a second thought.
I never should have gotten out of the car when the officer asked me to take a field sobriety test! I knew better than to think I would have been mistaken for a drunk! The second that officer asked me to get out of my car, I should have shoved it into drive and floored it. I had made the officer’s job more than easy, and now I was trapped in a car that had been modified as a holding chamber for an angel, which prohibited me from using any of the powers I had. About that time I felt one of the charms from my bracelet move against my hand as I shifted my weight on the seat. Natasha had brought me my bracelet today! I still had the hope of contacting Avan and the others before it was too late!
When the door opened to the cruiser, I was instructed by a surprising voice to get out and keep my back turned while making my way to the limousine. Immediately I began taking each angel’s charm in my opposite hand, sending out messages one right after another into the universe in hopes that they would reach them in enough time. I knew the voice without even having to wonder who it was, as Lena told me to keep my mouth shut and do what I was told. I did not bother trying to talk her out of whatever she and her father had planned, assuming it would not make any difference.
I finished sending out the messages with my bracelet just as we reached the door of the limousine, where I was blindfolded and lead inside onto the seat. I could tell that Lena and I were not the only ones inside by the sounds of breathing. I had no idea who was in the car with us and hoped that one of them was Allen so that we could figure out how to get out of this mess together.
We drove for a long way in complete silence as I listened to the breathing patterns and heartbeats of those in the car with me, trying to detect any signs of change to give me a clue about our destination. Unfortunately, whoever the individuals were, they were too skilled to give anything away. They knew I what I was doing and they did not intend to give me any information whatsoever. They had anticipated my spying on the least of things to try to put this new puzzle together in order to find a way to alert everyone else. The only good thing now was that I could tell by the feelings I had that no dark angels were present at this time.
When the car stopped, I heard the door open and a strong grasp around the top of my arm removed me from the car. I could hear two distinct sets of footsteps passing back and forth. I guessed that one of the sets of footsteps belonged to Lena, since she seemed to be the delivery technician for this assignment. The other set seemed to disappear after a car door shut, so I chalked them up to belonging to the person driving.
Once the car drove away there was no sound, leaving me to think I had been left in an undisclosed location, handcuffed, blindfolded, and abandoned. Though it probably had not been nearly the length of time it felt like due to being in total darkness, I was sure it had been at least five minutes before Lena came back for me.
“Night, night, Mattie!” Lena said as I felt a sharp blow to the back of my head.