Epilogue
This is one of the odder books I read this season. I chose it from a stack of paperbacks, glad that I did…until the end. I suppose you’re all wondering why I gave the book such a low star rating, so read on, dear readers.
One of our main characters is Bennie, described as a giant of a man who’s lacking intelligence, and the other is Carl, his exact opposite, a tiny little man, standing only forty-eight inches tall and sharp as a tack. Carl befriends the man considered an oaf, leading them to the rich farming community of Salinas, California, where they intend on becoming farm laborers to save money for their own land and fields.
Bennie, however, finds trouble wherever he goes…oh, and he’s sick most of the time, contracting one head cold after another. He steals remedies from stores in small towns as they travel, killing the owners who are mostly the elderly, kindly sort. Basically, he’s a serial killer. Carl finds himself constantly getting his poor, nasal friend out of scrapes time and time again, even though he finds him utterly frustrating, even trying to put an end to Bennie. I’ll post a quote from the book, so you get the idea of what I’m talking about:
“No matter what I did, I couldn’t get rid of Bennie. He hung around like a sticky booger no matter how hard I tried to pick him off. You know how sticky those things can be.”
Given the title, I should have expected phrases like this one, peppered liberally throughout the book and at the very least, I should have given the author a negative star rating, if for no other reason than putting that delightful image in my head.
Anyway, to conclude…the book ends when Carl, finding himself at his wit’s end, takes matters into his own slimy hands when Bennie contracts a head cold and beats a woman to death for a Kleenex. Yeah, you heard me right. A Kleenex…not a box of Kleenex…a single Kleenex.
The only reason I gave the book two generous stars is because of the ending which is sad and poignant. Carl takes his ailing friend away to a remote shack where he kills him gently and with great love. At the end, he gives him an entire box of Kleenex bought with the last of their meager savings, making the death quick as Bennie stares into his eyes, giving one final sneeze before his heart stops beating.
Someone please remind me to burn that stack of paperbacks.
I chuckled at Nightcrawler’s latest review, setting aside my iPad as I thought about everything that had happened in the past two weeks after taking down Mendez, Bishop, and Cassanova.
Mark and Damon had flown to Langley, Virginia along with Sutter and the CIA operatives who’d taken John Mendez, Rosina Cassanova, and Lance Bishop into custody. Before he’d left, Mark told Jarrett and Thayne not to expect to see him for several days. Since neither he nor Damon were active CIA operatives, they would most likely be treated as civilians during the comprehensive debrief they’d be expected to deliver to the Company.
Alex Fillmore was still at large, last known to be in Berlin, Germany, according to a passport stamp on one of the aliases the CIA had turned up. If he hadn’t gone underground already, he most likely would be, soon enough. I had no doubt the CIA would be hot on his trail which would keep him running.
Sutter’s future was unclear, which is why he’d had to go along with the others. He would have to clear up a lot of questions Langley would want answered and fill in a lot of holes. Going back in time over a decade would prove to be terrible for him and even though I’d offered to go with him, he’d shut that down. Though our team had already gone through an extensive debriefing with the Corps when John had gone missing, going over it all again, wouldn’t have been fun.
He’d said that Mendez was the real muscle behind everything that had happened, but I’d wanted to be absolutely sure Raven and I weren’t targets. Even though I trusted Sutter had told us everything he knew, I wouldn’t be satisfied until he returned to L.A. a free man. Mark had promised he’d get to the bottom of any questions which might come up. I knew he was still stinging since all of this had happened during the tenure of his watch, though, he hadn’t run operatives on the ground at his level.
The night Mendez and his cohorts had been arrested in Westwood, Raven and I had gone with John and Vonne to pick up Niloufar and Daniel. She’d been frantic with worry when strangers had shown up with him, but by the end of the night, she’d been in tears. She’d been thrilled to hear that she and Daniel were safe and free of John Mendez for the first time in more than fourteen years. Thanks to connections Sarah Connor had with the U.S. Marshals, they were now in protective custody, at least until Fillmore was in custody. Her parting with John at the Marshals’ office had been bittersweet with all of them in tears. Daniel referred to John as uncle, and rather than be sad for Sutter, that knowledge made me unbelievably happy. He’d lost so much in the last eleven years, but he had a real family now. I hoped he’d someday come to know the men who’d come to his rescue the way I was starting to. I was so grateful for everyone’s help that night, happy to call them all brothers now.
I looked over at the bedroom door when it slowly cracked open. Raven peered inside and smiled at me.
“Oh, you’re awake.” He padded into the room on moccasins. “What’re you doing?” He climbed onto the bed, rolling into my arms when I held them out to him.
I kissed the top of his head, chuckling. “I just read Nightcrawler’s latest review.”
Raven looked up at me from where his head lolled on my shoulder and grinned. “Of Mice and Phlegm?”
I laughed. “That title slays me.”
“You slay me.” He sat up and rolled on top of me, straddling my groin. “Speaking of which…last night, you were talking about doing some slaying of my ass, right?”
I laughed again, gripping his hips. “I think there was something about tearing up your ass.”
“ Ah, that was it.” When I lost my smile, his brows furrowed. “What is it?”
“Raven, you’ve been so strong and brave through all of this. I hope you know I’m your biggest fan, but we’re not through. Even if they manage to find Fillmore and arrest him, we still have a ruby to find and an attorney we both suspect in its theft.”
“I know, but I don’t think Mrs. Flores is complicit in her attorney’s crimes or for that matter, we don’t know how deeply Aston’s involved with Mendez and his lot. The fact remains the stone is still missing, meaning the case isn’t finished.”
I squeezed his ass. “I agree, Sunshine, but at least for now, you’re safe.” I tugged him down until his mouth met mine, kissing him for all he was worth.
After all, Raven was all that really mattered in the end.