Righteous04 - The Blessed and the Damned Read Online Free PDF Page B

who’d spent the last four years living by herself in the desert.
    Eliza’s phone eked out two bars by the picnic area. It was three picnic tables on a patch of well-watered grass, attended by a pair of fiberglass dinosaurs. One was a
Tyrannosaurus rex
, the other a
Triceratops
, locked in combat like in an old science textbook. She sat in the shade of the
Tyrannosaurus
, looked up Krantz’s number on the phone, and called.
    She felt a surprising tickle in her stomach when he answered the phone with that rumbling voice.
    “Hi, Steve. It’s Eliza.”
    “Eliza? Eliza who?” he asked. “Oh, I remember, the girl in the prairie dress. Utah, right? Or was that Colorado City?”
    “Actually, I gave all that up just last week. I’m out.”
    “You are?” The teasing tone vanished. “What happened?”
    “Whatever you do, don’t tell Jacob or my father, but I’m in Las Vegas, working on the Strip. It’s a respectable show. They don’t make me take off my clothes, just—”
    “No!” he said in a tone of faux shock. “Wow, when you polygamists leave, you
really
leave. How are you? It’s been awhile.”
    “Fine, I’m all right. I do have news, actually.” She hesitated for dramatic purposes. “I’m getting married tomorrow. It’s not so bad,” she added in a hasty tone. “I’m only the second wife, and he’s not even forty yet.”
    “What? Eliza!” And then he groaned as the joke caught up with him. “Okay, that time you got me. Uhm, it is a joke, right?”
    This time she laughed. “You deserve it after the prairie dress comment.”
    “I actually reached for a cigarette,” Krantz said. “Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any on my desk. Or anywhere, for that matter.”
    “Does that mean you went cold turkey?”
    “Very cold. The turkey has been decapitated, dressed, and frozen. I haven’t had a smoke in two weeks.”
    “Two weeks? That would make it about five minutes after I saw you last.”
    “About five minutes
before
, actually. You said we’d celebrate once I gave them up for good. That was all the motivation I needed. I’m done, finished. Unless you give me another heart attack, that is, then all bets are off.”
    “I’ll pick up a bottle of sparkling grape juice,” she said. “When will I see you next?”
    “Soon, I hope. I’m in California—some new priorities from Washington—but plan to be back in Salt Lake in another week, maybe ten days, tops. How does that sound?”
    Jacob came out of the convenience store with two bottles of water and some premade deli sandwiches. He didn’t approach, but gave her a questioning shrug. She held up her hand to tell him to be patient. He went to move the car from where it blocked the gas pump.
    “Sounds great,” she said. “Look, Jacob is anxious to hit the road and go see his wife, so I’d better get to the point.”
    Briefly, she outlined their search of central and southern Utah and what they’d learned from Charity Kimball.
    “That does seem promising,” he said when she’d finished.
    “Then why don’t you sound excited?”
    “I’ve heard of this Dark Canyon. Hell of a place to lose a cow, as they say.”
    “You’re stealing our expressions. But look, it’s not that bad. You and Fayer can put together a team, send over some helicopters to search. Jacob and I will help when it comes time to negotiate. After you arrest Taylor Junior—”
    Krantz interrupted with a sigh. “Eliza. Wait.”
    “What’s the matter, Steve? Don’t you want to get this guy?”
    “Of course I do. He’s a wanted fugitive and he sexually assaulted you. And I want him because these Kimballs are murdering crazies, ready to bring about the end of the world every time they get spooked. The problem is he’s not wanted for murdering your brother.”
    “You know he was in on that. Enoch—”
    “I know what they did to your brother in the temple, and I’m sure Taylor Junior was a part of it. That doesn’t mean we could make the charges