Free The End of Darkness by Jaime Rush Page A

they both shouted.
    Carlene blinked, looking as though she'd just woken up. She stared at the gun, then the cops, and dropped it. They rushed in, shoving her to the ground and cuffing her.
    “Wait!” Suza ran up to them, but the younger cop held out his weapon toward her. 
    “Back up, ma'am.”
    “That's my friend. She's not a bank robber.” The mere notion made a hysterical giggle erupt. But she had seen it. She also saw that both cops harbored the same dark energy. Hell. Literally, like hell had crept into this lovely town.
    “She's been identified as one. The only thing you can do for her is call a lawyer.” He hauled her to her feet and pushed her toward the patrol car. The other cop entered the bank, which was still in a state of chaos. People inside pushed and shouted at each other as though they were oblivious to what had just happened.
    Because they were.
    Three more police cars joined the scene, one breaking off toward the other bank. Then the jewelry store's alarm added to the cacophony.
    Suza approached the car in which Carline sat, looking shell-shocked. Her eyes met Suza's, her voice muffled by the glass of the closed window. “What happened? Why was I holding a gun?”
    “Because you just robbed a bank.”
    Suza saw the shock on her friend's face.
    “Move away from the car, ma'am,” one of the officers shouted from the bank's entrance.
    “She was in a trance,” Suza said, approaching him. “Like she'd been hypnotized. She handed the money to a man.” 
    “You're saying that your friend robbed a bank and just handed off the money? Then stood there while we arrived on the scene?”
    “Yes, that's exactly what happened. Look around. These people are all in some kind of trance.”
    He glanced around, but Suza could see that deadened look in his eyes, too. The same way Carlene's eyes had appeared before she'd gone off with that man. “Everyone looks fine to me. Please remain nearby so we can take your statement.”
    Suza took a step back. “Sure. I'll do that.” 
    What was that movie where the aliens took over people's bodies and then hunted down everyone who hadn't been infected?  Body Snatchers?  
    She hated to leave her friend, but she needed to get help. Who could she call?
    Why Pope's name popped into her head, she didn't know. Well, maybe because she'd been thinking about him. Because if he had a dangerous job, that meant he was used to dealing with dangerous people.
    She got into her car and maneuvered out of the snarl of cars and people now crowding into the downtown area. More than half of the people had that same dull look and dark energy. 
    Alien invasion? Demon possession? It was going to sound crazy to Pope, but if she could get him out here, he'd see for himself.
    She pulled off the road once she cleared the area and called him. “Pope, it's Suza.”
    “Is everything all right? You feel—er, sound, upset.”
    Her voice trembled with every word. “More like freaked out.” She gave him a rundown of what had happened. “And the strangest part is Cheveyo's friend had a similar feel about him. Not tranced out, but dark.”
    “Magnus,” he confirmed, oddly not reacting to her assertion. “Where is this town?”
    “You don't think I'm nuts?” Relief suffused her. She thought she'd have to wheedle and convince him. 
    “I have quite the open mind about things of a bizarre nature.”
    “I'm in Strasford, in the northwest corner of Arizona. Not far from where we met in Flag.”
    She heard noise, and then what sounded like the crinkling of a map. “Ah.”
    “Ah, what?”
    Silence for a moment. “You must be aware of the places of strange energy out there. Sedona has the Bell Tower, for instance. The people I work for have been investigating those areas for some time. Strasford isn't far from one of them.”
    Who did he work for? Questions crowded into her mind about the mysterious Pope, but the biggest one she spoke aloud: “Does this mean you're coming out?” More