The Paladin Prophecy

#34: ACT AS IF YOU’RE IN CHARGE, AND PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE YOU.

Will altered his voice to the flat institutional twang civil servants used when they wanted to let civilians know they meant business.

“This is Deputy Johnson, Ventura County sheriff,” said Will. “We have reason to believe persons of interest may be on that aircraft. Do you have a passenger list?”

“No, sir.” She sounded eager to cooperate.

“Was the aircraft engaged by Mr. or Mrs. Jordan West?” He heard papers shuffle.

“Yes. Mrs. West paid for it. With a credit card.”

His parents didn’t own credit cards. Everything he’d ever seen them buy they paid for with personal checks or cash.

“Was that the name on the credit card?” he asked.

“Yes. Jordan West.”

“And what is their destination, ma’am?”

“They’re flying to Phoenix. Scheduled to return tomorrow.”

Phoenix. So his misdirection had worked. With a little luck, they’d go hunting for him in Mexico, too.

“And what was the charge for this flight?”

“Round trip from here to Phoenix is twelve thousand seven hundred twenty dollars,” she said.

That put to rest any doubt his parents hadn’t paid for this. They sweated out bills every month. They simply didn’t have that kind of money. Will thanked the woman and said he’d call back with any further questions.

He went into the bedroom. His focus started to fade, the two most stressful days of his life dragging him down. His head ached dully along with half a dozen other body parts. Will climbed into bed. The mattress was firm but yielding, the pillow soft and cool.

Will looked at the photo of his parents on the bedside table, then picked up Dad’s rules and browsed through them. Some were in his handwriting, but most were in Dad’s, the way they’d collected them over the years. On the last page, Will noticed one he hadn’t seen before, in Dad’s handwriting, with no number attached. He must have put it there recently.

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