Der Schädelring: Thriller (German Edition)

you have to do is tell her you’ll cut her eyes out if you don’t. Do we have to go through more of this damned mumbo-jumbo?”
    Hartley’s eyes grew even brighter. “Silence, Judas,” he roared.
    “What money?” Dr. Forrest asked.
    “The money Douglas Stone stole from the Brotherhood,” Snead said coldly. “Three million goddamned dollars. With interest, it could be twice that now.”
    Julia stared at the ground, pretending to be dazed and driven to the babbling edge by Dr. Forrest’s mental manipulation. Three million .
    “Brother Hartley?” Dr. Forrest asked. “What’s he talking about?”
    Snead continued. “Do you think we keep all these little covens going just for the hell of it? All our brothers and whores work for the Master, all right, but it comes down to money. Hookers, crack, guns. Or haven’t you heard that Satan rules the world?”
    Julia sneaked a glance at Dr. Forrest’s face. The woman looked as if she’d been clubbed in the head, her mouth fallen open, her eyes wide. “B-but the Master—”
    “The Master smiles, Judas Forrest," Hartley said. "We spread wickedness. Love of money is the root of all evil.”
    “And take a cut of the profits,” Snead said. “Well, my cut’s going to be a little bigger. After all, I’m the one who stole drugs from the evidence locker. I’m the one who made sure those missing persons stayed missing and didn’t turn up as bones somewhere. And I want half.”
    “That wasn’t the deal,” Hartley said slowly.
    “New deal.” Snead pulled a gun from his robe, and for a moment Julia thought he was going to shoot Hartley. Instead, he stepped over to Julia and pressed the gun to her head.
    “Don’t!” commanded Hartley. “She’s the only one who can take the money out of the trust fund.”
    The barrel of the pistol was cold against Julia’s temple. She held her breath, counting down slowly. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to die in the blinding darkness of panic. She wanted to die thinking about what might have been, a future that led away from pasts that had never have occurred. She wanted to die healed and whole.
    She visualized the mountains, where the ridges met the clouds. Walter was there on that imaginary horizon, waiting. And maybe something behind him, the shadow of his soul, the light of his heart.
    Walter’s God had ceded this world to sickness, lust, and greed, but even the frail hope of salvation was better than the certainty of nothingness.

 
     
    CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
     
    The cold gun drew Julia back to the windy clearing. Three million dollars. The price of Julia's soul.
    Mitchell must have known about the trust fund. With his connections, he probably knew about it before they'd even started dating. That made his possessiveness more understandable. Money and stolen underwear. The two ways into Mitchell's worthless heart.
    Too bad she'd be dead before she ever had a chance to laugh in his face.
    "Come on," Snead said to her, holding the gun steady. It was the same type as the one Walter had taken from Mitchell, a black automatic.
    Dr. Forrest stood near Hartley, her hands clasped together under her chin. Hartley glowered, his thin white hair tangled by the fierce wind. The surrounding forest had grown dark, with the spaces between trees filled with black shadow. The thunder was nearer now, and the ground seemed to shake under Julia's feet.
    "She stays," Hartley said. "She belongs to the Master."
    "Cut the crap," Snead said. "It's just us now. No need to put on your Satan show."
    "She belongs to him," Hartley said.
    "This plan was screwed up from the start. You think she's going to join the coven now and willingly give you the money? I don't know why we had to waste all those years letting the shrinks mess with her head. The best way to mess with somebody's head is to put a bullet it in."
    "You forget your station," Hartley said. "I'm the High Priest here."
    "Circles within circles," Snead said. "And who do you have to cut in on the deal? How many other people get a piece of the devil's money?"
    "Brother Snead, don't interfere with the Master," Dr. Forrest pleaded. "Judas Stone was chosen. She was born to be one of us."
    "Damn, 'Sister,'" Snead mocked. "You sound like you've fallen for your own brainwashing. You can stay here and try to explain all these bodies to the cops. The straight cops. Me, I'm taking this whore back to Memphis, where we're going to stroll into Stone's favorite S & L and make a little