Page 16 of The Red Rider
“Plus, it was hard to narrow it down to Leonard with all the politicians talking about the exact same thing. He was meticulous,” Leif said.
I just blinked. I was so confused. I got that he was a tool, but I didn’t get why.
“Why would a preacher help the Antichrist?”
“Easy. Do you remember the year you went missing? What it was like in the world? People were so convinced there were wars on Christmas, and social media was censoring religious posts. All Isaiah had to do was swoop in and prey on those fears. He just had to lie about the devil people feared while hiding his true face. They were all too willing to be his pawn if it meant fighting a false religious war,” Leif said.
Well, there was my why. People could be nuts about that kind of thing. Miss Mabel was continually ranting about her social media friends from her bridge club being idiots posting that kind of stuff.
“Well, what do we do? He’s on his way to Florida.”
All three angels just beamed at me.
“Not yet,” Dice said. “We checked in with Asher and sent our horses. He’s still outfitting his RV. He won’t leave for another few weeks or so.”
“Why doesn’t one of your murder horses just kill him before he leaves?”
Dice grinned at me, and that was when I realized he was utterly insane.
“Well, he’s bringing Rage Heads, right? They’ll all be in one place to kill. Think about it. He’ll be dragging Rage Heads all the way from D.C. We can wipe out a good bit of them by letting him get a little close. Let the little whippersnapper think he’s accomplishing something and cross several states. We’ll kill him in Georgia.”
“Okay, but wouldn’t it be best just to kill him now?” I asked.
“Maybe, but it would be way less fun.”
Dice was going to get me in so much trouble.
Chapter 10
N
o one seemed as nervous as me that a nutbag preacher was on his way to Florida dragging zombies, but then again, I didn’t have murder horses to check other states like they did. Aeron and Leif seemed on board with Dice’s plan to let Leonard get a bunch of zombies in one place and drop a bomb on them. Was it just me, or was that fucked up? Why not just have Asher kill him before he left? I was getting way too comfortable with murder.
It was also pretty fucked up talking to Dice like a therapist. His topics were super random, but what was even more fucked up was that I was remembering. I hadn’t hit some golden nugget that would help us beat Isaiah, but I was getting more of my past back.
It wasn’t much. It was childhood memories and things after I ran, but I held onto it. As far as I was concerned, the more I got back, the better. It was like a part of me was missing because there was so much I couldn’t remember. My father made it a point to take that from me, but what was lurking in my memories that he wanted to hide?
Dice and I were in our usual positions. I was on one end of the couch, and he was one the other. I had a bowl of salsa in my lap, and he had a bowl of guac on his chest. Dice could mow through so much guacamole, it shocked me Mexico wasn’t having an avocado shortage. Or, for that matter, why I hadn’t caused a tomato shortage yet with my salsa consumption.
Dice’s feet were on me like they usually were, but for some reason, it didn’t bother me. Not like it did knowing he was sleeping on the couch while I slept with Aeron and Leif, but that was a conversation I could have with my lizard brain much later.
“There’s an important memory we haven’t touched on yet.”
“What’s that?”
“The day you got kidnapped.”
I stopped with a chip halfway to my mouth. A big blob of salsa dropped right on my boob. I ignored the way Dice’s eyes fell to it, and he licked his lips.
“Do we have to talk about that?”
“Yes, but not until you are ready. Something might have happened when you got to that lab that could help you beat him. I don’t think you were awake when Satan visited, but I doubt they kept you sedated the entire ride to Washington State. Something might have been said. Isaiah could have said something when he saw you again. You know the kind of movies Aeron likes to watch. The madman always reveals their plans when they think they’ve gained the upper hand.”
I made a farting noise with my mouth and scooped the salsa off my boob with my finger. I licked it off and pointed at Dice.
“You’re right, but way to traumatize a girl. How exactly am I supposed to remember that?”
“By not forcing it. You remember Aeron. Think about how excited you were to meet him for the first time.”
