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Shebehind Connie, as delicately blowing across the surface of her first spoonful Val paused andConnie Connie saw none of it, and Guthrie had to pretend to cough to hide his laughter Sighing audibly, Val walked out of the kitchen, down the long hall, and into the living rooain A hard, insistent rap

"I’!" Val called as she reached for the knob, turned it, and opened the door

A man stood there, tall and thin and pale of face He had dark hair greased back from a ’s peak, black eyes, and a wide, friendly sht hand he held a s pistol The barrel was pointed at Val’s stoer, and pushed his way into the house

Part II

Mr Devil Blues

Gypsy woel, I’hthawk (Vaot a purpose to serve

Santana, "Put Your Lights On"

Well, I ain’t superstitious, black cat just cross my trail Well, I ain’t superstitious, oh the black cat just cross my trail

Willie Dixon, "I Ain’t Superstitious"

Chapter 9

1

Tow-​Truck Eddie et out of the cab For fifteenat the blood on his hands, aued him for most of the drive home, but as he sat there and stared at the blood, he could feel his fears frag belief

"Thank you, God," he whispered The gratitude welled up so suddenly and fiercely in his breast that tears sprang fro that man back there by the wrecked car, deep in the corn…hoonderful it had been He n, and how he--huuided in such sure but secret ways so that hints and clues of the great plan opened up to him bit by bit

It had been years since his first epiphany, since that day years ago when God had first whispered to hies of a Bible A real voice The voice of God

Eddie had been twenty when it happened It was only days after Eddie’s first encounter with the Beast Back then the Beast had taken a different form--Satan is the Father of Lies--and Eddie and a few ate, Jim Polk, Gus Bernhardt, and others--had tracked theof ht the voice of God started speaking to hi his prayers Not often, at least not at first, and there were long stretches of months when no matter how fervently Eddie prayed there was no response fro to him al he had been shown the new face that the Beast wore, and Eddie was filled with such holy purpose and glory that he felt he would burst He kept looking in the rearviewfrom his eyes and nostrils andfor the Beast, unsure if he had actually been killed or not back there When Eddie had gotten out of the cab to look, there was no sign at all of either boy or bike Was that hohen the Beast, in this guise, was killed? Would he just si to the corruption from which he was formed? Eddie wasn’t sure and God had not spoken to hi the road just in case when either so of God’s hand directed hione off the road Eddie had iate Was the Beast here? Had the car struck the Beast and then both of the because he wanted to kill the Beast He--not anyone else--was the Sword of God

He checked the scene and could find no traces of a broken bicycle, no debris left fro off the road and into the cornfield

Eddie moved quietly down the lane of s hands held defensively Though Eddie was now fifty, he was still in perfect health and his body--the temple of the Lord--was packed with muscle and finely toned fro, and speed bag He kept his body a perfect offering to the Lord He had begun to bathe three and even four ti his hands at work, especially if he had touched a customer or one of the other mechanics Those impure oils had to be cleansed from his flesh as quickly as possible, but he had had to do it in secret The guys had started to notice his fetish for cleanliness, had begun to rib hi that Tow-​Truck Eddie had a new lady friend who didn’t like grubby fingers on her tender flesh He had laughed along with the jokes, choking down the rage and shaestions A lady friend indeed! As if he could allow himself to be distracted with carnal desires at a tihtened s They had no idea, no clue, as to why he was preparing hiht, then chastised himself for the vanity of that concept He rephrased it, I am the Sword of God , and left it at that

The beam of the flash sparkled on the black metal of the open trunk of the car, and he walked cal the scene The car was smashed, the ball joint broken; he could see that froht over everything, seeing the carnage, exas of some kind of adventure that had ended recently and badly He paused briefly to shine the light in the trunk, saw the scattering of blood-​soaked bills, the sust; if there was one thing Tow-​Truck Eddie despised it was pollution of the body Beer and the like were bad enough, but drugs were downright unholy He clucked his tongue in disapproval and began scouting the rest of the car He had approached fro looked deserted Shining the light in through the open driver’s door revealed nothing but blood Quite a lot of it, which sent a thrill of excitenition Tow-​Truck Eddie frowned Straightening froht over the rows of corn, seeing no one Then he walked carefully around to the other side of the car, and there lay a ht dohen he was peering into the trunk he ht have seen hier side of the car and lay entirely in shadow The harsh white light of his flash made the scene look like a black-​and-​white photo: black for the e stain of blood that had entirely soaked his shirt

Eddie had squatted down next to the man and looked him over, from death-​pale face to bloodstained shoes Odd how lifelike the dead can soasped as the h he le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>