Free Righteous03 - The Wicked by Michael Wallace Page A

do it, Liz!’ or something like that.”
    “Of course you can do it. But you already know that. Listen to me. Being brave is about acting brave, that’s all. Like you did with Father. You looked him in the eye and you acted like you weren’t intimidated. But I knew your heart was pounding and you didn’t want to lift your hands because you were afraid they’d tremble.”
    Just then, the bus driver leaned out, and said, “You ready? We’re rolling in two.”
    “Coming,” Eliza said. She turned back to Jacob after the man disappeared back inside. “You’re right, I was nervous. But anyway, that’s different, Father is…difficult. These people are nuts. And Caleb Kimball…he scares me. I’ll bet he’s nuts, too.”
    “You don’t know that, you don’t know anything about them.”
    “Of course they’re nuts. Look at what they’re doing.”
    “We’re nuts too, to anyone who isn’t from a polygamist family,” Jacob said. “You don’t know if they’re crazy or sane, sincere or cynical, so be prepared for anything. But what you do know is that you’re stronger than anyone you’re going to meet in there. Even Caleb Kimball.”
    “Am I?”
    “Of course you are. If I didn’t think that, there’s no way I could send you to Vegas, let you track down David on your own, find this group and infiltrate it, knowing they might try to kill you. I can only do that because I know you’re stronger and smarter and more resourceful.”
    “There we go,” she said. “That’s what I was looking for. Maybe you should have started with that part.”
    “And let you get cocky? I don’t think so.” He gave her a hug. “Get David, get the girl. Then get out.”
    “I won’t stay one minute longer than I have to.”
    She had watched him staring at the bus as it pulled out of the station, then pulled out the cell phone Jacob had given her and called Allison Caliari. “I just wanted you to know that I’m on my way to Las Vegas to find your daughter.”
    “Oh, thank god. Thank you. When you see her, tell her I love her. If she can just come home, we can figure this out.”
    “I’ll tell her.”
    “Eliza, be careful.”
    There had been something odd in her voice in that last part. A concern apart from the worries about her daughter. Eliza had the distinct impression she’d been watching a play and now heard the actress behind the curtain, talking to someone as she exited the stage. It was odd and she didn’t know what to make of it. In any event, she had other worries at the moment.
    Now, standing alone in the Las Vegas bus station, Eliza gathered her courage, put a confident expression on her face and hailed a taxi. Now came the hard part.
    #
    David was in such pain and needing something to kill that pain that he didn’t notice that someone had broken into his house. A cast immobilized his right arm past the elbow, he had stitches on his forehead and his ribs ached with every movement. Angry bruises covered his shoulder and chest and his face was puffy and yellow-black. His left eye still wouldn’t open fully.
    Steve at Yost Deliveries had taken one look at him when he’d shown up at work two days after the attack and said, “I knew it, you rolled the truck, didn’t you. Jeez, dude, you couldn’t bother to call?”
    “No, that’s not what happened.” He’d carefully worked out what to say next. “I was on the sidewalk downtown, standing too close to the curb. Some drunk clipped me with his bumper and dragged me half a block.”
    “What? Really? Then the truck is fine?”
    “Thanks for caring, man.”
    Steve had backtracked, asked about his health and all that. And then still fired him. Never mind that David had been in the hospital, unable to call, fighting for his life against internal bleeding. No, what mattered were the irate customers, thousands of dollars worth of produce baking in the back of the truck, and that David would be busted up and unable to drive for two weeks.
    And so David took a