Sedona Law 4 by Dave Daren (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📗

like Ed Snowden, and Alex Jones, and how they are freeing the people, and how we can take back our free nature and not be enslaved by the one world government.”

Vicki and I exchanged glances, and I tried to formulate a polite response. But before I could say anything, Landon laughed and again shook his fist in victory, and his eyes burned bright with passion. “That’s what this whole thing was about. It was about freeing the people. So, that’s why…”

Landon looked around suspiciously, and satisfied that no one was listening he whispered. “That’s why Starbright brought them here.”

“To kill them?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Not just kill them. They could have done that a thousand different ways and much simpler. But to shut them down and make an example of them. You see, this is a ritualistic sacrifice. It’s a symbol. In the story, Beowulf defeats Grendel the monster. Good triumphs over evil, right? But in this case, it was evil who triumphs over good. It’s a symbol! They were getting too close, so they had to send a message to their enemies. It was a human sacrifice.”

He clasped his hands over his head and paced the floor in an adrenaline rush. I listened with morbid amusement.

“What were they getting too close to?” I asked.

“The truth,” he answered.

The truth, I assumed he meant, was that an evil government conspiracy controlled the human populace.

“But, again, why would the Illuminati bother with them?” I rephrased my question from earlier.

“I don’t know,” he said. He toyed with the marker in thought. “Maybe they knew something. Maybe they were about to expose something. Maybe they were getting too big. I think it would be awesome to find out what Beowulf knew. Or who he knew.”

His eyes got bright, and he shook his hands for emphasis at me.

“Dude, his phone,” he growled with emphasis. “His phone would have everything. Everyone he knew, who he was calling, who he was texting. You have to get that phone. You could break the Illuminati wide open here in Sedona. Can you imagine if we could take down the Clintons right here? What if we were the ones? What if we could single-handedly bring down the whole thing here? This is huge! You have to get that phone!”

I blinked and sighed. Although I didn’t disagree that Beowulf’s cell phone would hold important clues to his untimely demise, the thought of serving Bill Clinton with a subpoena suddenly made me very exhausted.

“Well, unfortunately, I don’t even have jurisdiction in this case,” I told Landon. “So, it’s a non-starter anyway.”

He clutched his hands over his head and paced some more and then grabbed the camera he had abandoned earlier. “I’ve got to document this. This is huge.”

It was then that he spotted Matt Chelmi and made a beeline for the news editor. They were out of my earshot, but I watched with amusement at Landon’s animated gestures and at Matt nodding politely.

Vicki brought me a foam coffee cup. “It was all they had back here.”

“So much for five star backstage hospitality,” I muttered as I examined the bland breakroom quality of this universal comfort drink. “How you holding up?” I asked Vicki.

“It scares me how well I am taking it,” she said. She grimaced as she sipped the cup and then abandoned it on a table.

“Well,” I sighed. “This isn’t our first go around with dead bodies.”

“I know,” she said. “Why is it every date we have ends with a murder?”

“We should stop going out,” I said. “It would be better for the population of Sedona.”

She laughed, and we collapsed into some second hand sofa sitting around that looked like it had once been a set piece. I took a sip from the cup and wrapped my arm around her. I noticed there was a wet spot and also noticed I had put my hand in wet green paint.

I moved my hand and watched the scene with Landon and Matt. I couldn’t tell if Matt’s continued interest had to do with the topic, or if he was just calculating potential page views.

“You know what Landon needs?” I told Vicki as I continued to watch the scene with him and Matt.

“What does he need?” she asked.

“He needs a political column,” I said.

She burst out into laughter. “I can see that. He might really get a following.”

“How’s the dancer?” I asked to change the subject.

“Her name was Chloe,” she said. “She’s stabilized. The cops brought some trauma counselors, so they’re talking to her. How much longer does Leonard want us to stay?”

Suddenly, Hal Durant’s voice resonated through the backstage area.

“We’re going to need to clear this space out,” he said. “Unless you are emergency personnel, or have been specifically asked to stay, we’re going to ask you to leave.”

There was a murmur through the gathered masses backstage. We had specifically been asked to stay, so we were unfortunately exempt from going home.

“Again,” he announced, “Essential personnel only please.”

The crowd started to disperse, and a few minutes later it was just our foursome and the cops. Landon and AJ came and sat with us on the couch. It was after midnight, and we were all in much more somber moods. We didn’t say much, the four of us.

“This reminds me of that day with...” Landon didn’t finish his sentence.

“Clifton,” AJ finished his sentence in a reverent whisper, and Landon nodded and stared off.

Clifton was his great-uncle that had died naturally a few months back. But, because of a twisted arrangement between Landon’s cousin, her meth head boyfriend, and a dirty city councilwoman, they covered up the death so they could keep stealing his money. But, our firm, with Landon’s outside help, uncovered the truth.

“Yeah,” I nodded. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.