Page 48 of Freedom
Then a side door to the building opened, and a teenage girl emerged. She peered in their direction, then started jogging toward them. She had long black hair, light brown skin, and wore jeans with a bright pink spaghetti strap top.
A little reluctantly, Jake rolled down his window as she approached. A few steps away, she put her hands on her knees, bending down to peer at him curiously. “Te llamas Jake?”
“Sí. Y tú?” he asked.
“Gabriela. Alejandra me dijo que llegarían un par de gringos. Vamos adentro.” She beckoned him to follow, then turned and walked back to the church without another look.
Glancing back at Tobias, Jake offered a wry smile. “At least you’ll get to practice the Spanish I taught you. And we don’t gotta stay long.”
Toby offered him a faint smile in return—he was so fucking brave, like Jake hadn’t just walked him into a complete disaster a few days earlier—and they got out of the car.
Inside, Gabriela led them through the dining room where Jake had first met Alex, into the large connected kitchen, which was bursting with noise and people. A dozen Hispanic women, ranging in youthfulness from Gabriela to a stooped elderly woman whose face was made up entirely of cheerfully crinkled lines, were grouped in different stations preparing food. Some mixed masa in large bowls, others chopped tomatoes and peppers, and one woman dropped dried corn husks into a large pot on the stove, which immediately gave Jake a craving for tamales. A radio in the corner played a jaunty Mexican tune that some of the women sang along to.
Alex was in the middle of them, her hands deep in a bowl, mixing shredded beef with red sauce. She looked up as Jake and Tobias stopped in the doorway, offered them a smile, then returned to what she was doing for another minute, talking to the woman next to her with a long gray ponytail, before finally stepping away. She moved to the sinks to wash her hands, then beamed at them as she approached.
“You’re just in time for dinner later. Let’s go to my office, we’ll be able to hear each other. Jarritos?”
Jake nodded his assent, and she stepped over to the fridge to pull out two glass soda bottles.
In the dining room, she turned to Tobias. “Hi, I’m Alex. Mucho gusto.” She extended a hand to him, and he haltingly took it. “Is it Tobias or Toby?”
He swallowed, eyes darting away. “Tobias,” he said, very quietly.
“Tobias,” she repeated with a smile. “That’s a good name. Let’s go this way.”
They followed her through the dining room to another hallway, and finally to a small office with a missing door. A handwritten sign taped to the left side of the doorframe read Open Door Policy.
Inside, the wooden desk looked old and beat-up, every visible surface covered in scratches, but also well-loved. Jake thought he recognized the blue cloth-covered chairs from another church or two he’d passed through. Maybe they were mass-produced for churches everywhere.
They took a seat, and Jake pulled out his keys and bottle opener to crack open their bottles of soda. Alex pointed at a trash can in the corner, and he tossed the caps in.
Alex leaned forward, propping her elbows on the knees of her blue slacks. “I appreciate you coming out this way. Roger told you about the poltergeist?”
Jake gave a nod. “Yeah, he mentioned something about that. Happy to help if I can.”
“You’ll laugh at me, but I’ve gotten rusty, and I’ve seen what happens to rusty hunters.” She grimaced. “It’s probably a basic exorcism, maybe a nasty object somewhere in the house too. I’ll get you more details tomorrow. Where are you boys staying?”
Jake shrugged a shoulder. “The best two-star motel Sahuarita has to offer, unless you’ve got a recommendation.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “A motel? No, no, not in my town. Not while I have a room to offer, especially if you’re here to help clear out Jose’s unwanted guest. It’s the least I can do. I’ve got a garage apartment behind my home, nothing fancy, but it’s got a decent shower and bed. Just a twin, though I can throw in an air mattress too. Are you okay with that, Tobias?” She looked to him.
Tobias twitched slightly, twisting his hands together. Jake felt defensive and a little stunned; as far as he could recall, that was the first time anyone besides him had specifically asked Tobias’s permission or input.
Tobias swallowed, his eyes lifting for a fraction of a second before dropping again. “Yes. Th-that’s okay.”
Alex smiled. “Great. I’ll give you the address, and you can meet me there. But let me give you a tour of the church first.”
They followed her back into the hall and through a side door that opened to the outside. Then Jake saw the actual chapel with its pointed roof and adjacent bell tower. It wasn’t particularly grand, but it looked solid in the Southwest style.
This wasn’t Jake’s first church, but it was one of the few he’d walked up to without an ulterior motive. He’d broken into more than a handful in his time to refill his holy water or grab some blessed silver; most churches offered supplies to hunters in daylight hours, and he’d heard of guys who had gotten their hands on bones and relics by flashing the ASC ID, all very formal and legal and politely morbid, but where was the fun in that? Besides, it was never a great idea to put up a big flag letting the community (and monster) know a hunter was in town. He’d found one church so resigned to reality, the storeroom had been barely locked, with a big box of supplies close enough to the door to trip over and a sign reading For Hunters—Please Clean and Return, God Bless Your Mission. It was so thoughtful, Jake had broken in again the next night to do just that.
He was about to follow Alex up the stairs when he realized Toby was no longer beside him.
Turning, he saw him stopped on the gravel path at the foot of the stairs, gazing up at the cross mounted on the steeple and the figures carved on either side of the adobe front wall. As best Jake could read it, his expression held a mix of awe and apprehension.
“This is a church,” Tobias said, slowly, a hint of a question in his voice. At Alex’s nod, he took a small step back. Jake’s heartbeat tripped at that, but Tobias didn’t look panicked or even particularly upset. If anything, his voice was matter-of-fact. “I can’t go in.”
For a moment, Jake didn’t understand. Then he looked to Alex, whose brow was creased with something not quite pity, just concern and a grave sadness.
