Iron River

“An exorcism,” said Fi

“This is no joke,” said Reyes.

“What it means to me is aisle eight of the Mercado Toro in Boyle Heights, right beside the candles of the saints, three dollars and ninety-nine cents, made in China.”

“Maybe then you would like to see it closer.” Reyes leaned across the bed and held the crucifix before Fi

“I like the ones made of straw in Mexico. No blood. No thorns. No woeful eyes. More mystery and a hint of the transcendent.”

“Maybe you’d like to touch it.”

“Now you sound like that uncle we’ve all had.”

Reyes set the crucifix in Fi

“What’s going on here?”

“We’re not sure, Kathy,” said Fi

His voice was calm, but his numbers had exhausted themselves and an ERROR/RESET message now pulsed across the monitor screen. The warning buzzer continued. Hood watched Fi

“Thank you so much for the visit, Father. I’ve always enjoyed the presence of the faithful.”

“Mike, how do you feel?”

“Splendid.”

“You may be going into cardiac arrest.”

“Don’t be silly.”

Two more nurses squeezed into the room. One took Mike’s wrist for pulse, and the other pulled the monitor module from its stand and commenced pushing buttons. Hood watched as Kathy slid her slender hand inside the body cast below the cranial brace, feeling for the pulmonary sensor down on Fi

The other nurse continued to hold Mike’s wrist for another few seconds. “Pulse is normal,” she said.

“I still suspect a sensor,” said Mike.

“The sensor was drenched in sweat,” said Kathy. “But they’re made to withstand that. It happens. I don’t get it.”

“I sure love the attention,” said Mike.

Hood saw Fi

“Father Quang, I’d be happy to continue this discussion at any time,” said Fi

Kathy herded the men into the hallway outside of the ICU, then shut the locking door behind her. Two Guardsmen patrolled past, weapons slung over their shoulders.

“He’s proud and intelligent and he’s playing with us,” said Quang. “He wants attention. He wants control.”

“He knows too much,” said Reyes.

“He’s obviously very clever,” said Quang.

“He’s more than that,” said Reyes. “He is not us. You can’t understand the world by believing that it is merely like yourself. There is more and there has always been more and not all of it is good. I can’t believe you don’t see it.” Reyes turned and limped away. Hood watched him turn right for the elevator. When he turned to Quang, the padre was looking up at him with a searching expression.

“Since the death of his granddaughter, Gabriel has not been the same,” said Quang. “She was murdered and left in the desert. Unsolved. Now Gabriel expects evil, so this is what he finds. Finding it confirms his hopes. He is still looking for someone to blame. He sits in the fifth row of St. Cecilia’s every Saturday night for mass, and his eyes burn up at me until the service ends.”

Hood watched the priest walk away, following the same route as the snakebit police chief. He reached into his pocket and took out the cell phone he’d swiped from the book stack on his way out of Fi

A few minutes later, he was back in Fi

“No harm done, Kathy,” said Fi

Hood watched her bustle out and turn into the adjacent room.

“That was interesting,” said Hood.

“A quaint little assault by a Mexican cop and a Vietnamese priest. I love America.”

“Why didn’t you tell them what you told me that night we drank the wine?”

“What I told you that night was nonsense, Charlie. I blathered to you under the influence of wine and some sudden impulse that I attribute to another round of swelling in my brain.”

“I watched your vitals race when Quang touched you. And I watched them run off the chart when Reyes set the cross in your hand.”

“I do have strong reactions to certain people. It always helped me in sales.”

“It wasn’t the sensor.”

“I’ll let you experts decide what it was,” said Fi

Hood set the cell phone back on top of the book stack.

“Strictly for emergencies,” said Fi

Hood sat on the wheeled stool and watched Fi

“How was the wedding, Charlie?”

“Terrific. They’re happy.”

“Youth isn’t always wasted on the young. Did you take Beth?”

Hood nodded. “I saw Owens. She said she’d been here to see you.”

“Oh, my. What a girl. She looks better than I’ve ever seen her. Thank you so much for helping me with her.”

“You’re welcome. But there wasn’t really much of a problem between you two, was there?”

“She likes you.”

“Well.”

“Well? Just well? Our lovely Dr. Petty must be a factor here. She’s had a satisfied look about her the last two days.”

“That may be, Mike.”

“I love single-minded, dumb-as-a-dog loyalty in a man.”

Hood looked up at the vitals monitor and saw Fi

“Charlie, congratulations on the rescue of Jimmy. I saw him on TV. He looks ghastly and lobotomized, but I guess that’s to be expected. Tell me what happened to Raydel Luna.”

“He brokered the deal with Calderón’s government.”

“Was he shot down by Vascano?”

Hood said nothing while the Bakersfield tiger glanced back at him and he again felt no basis for understanding this man before him at this time and in this place.

You can’t know these things, thought Hood.

Fi

“You may.”

“It’s never been my wish to exhaust your goodwill.”

“It is exhausted. You know things and people you’re not supposed to know. You’re not affiliated with any law enforcement or intelligence agencies that I can find. You invent histories and stories to obscure your own past, but the histories and stories involve real people and true events and you know details like you were really there.”

“There are unlimited stories and multiple truths. Not many people can let themselves believe this concept. But you can and that’s why I’ve talked with you. Opened up. Offered friendship. Charlie, I value your goodwill. I would like to encourage it. I feel the weight that is on you. There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?”

Neither man spoke for a long while. Hood remembered Fi