The Leader by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

wrong.” He
did care, and that was a problem because it was probably a matter
of time before they found out and conveniently replaced him with
someone who didn’t. “I do what I have to do.”
    “ Oh really? And does that
thing hovering around you tell you what to do?”
    His head snapped in her direction.
“There’s nothing hovering around me.”
    She shrugged, said, “Whatever,” and
took a puff of her cigarette.
    The way she casually stated that gave
him an uneasy feeling in his gut. “I don’t,” he insisted, unsure if
he was trying to convince him or her.
    “ You must not see
it.”
    A shiver crawled up his spine. He
didn’t want to ask it but felt compelled to. “See what?”
    “ The black shadow that
lurks near you. It’s standing behind you.”
    He glanced back. “I don’t see
anything.”
    “ I know. I didn’t see it
until those people vanished. Ever since then I’ve become aware of a
spiritual world around us.”
    “ Spiritual? As in
God?”
    “ I think so. It’s the only
logical explanation for angels and demons hanging
around.”
    “ You’re a nut.”
    She glared at him. “You’re the one
bombing places and I’m the nut?”
    “ Yes, you are.” He stood
up. Nothing was behind him. There wasn’t anything dark and creepy
hovering nearby. She was probably schizophrenic or something. “You
should get some pills for those hallucinations you’re
having.”
    “ I haven’t come across a
single person who sees them, so I’m not surprised you’d say
that.”
    The way she casually made her comments
bothered him. She was either psychotic or telling him the truth. He
couldn’t believe he wanted to see her. She’d been the first person
who had seemed completely human to him; someone who wasn’t
manipulative or part of the nightmare that had become his life. But
she turned out to be a complete nut, and that sorely disappointed
him. “Seriously, get some help for that.”
    Her response was to take another puff
of her cigarette.
    “ And it wouldn’t hurt to
stop smoking. It’s a filthy habit, you know.”
    She looked him in the eyes and said,
“It’s touching your shoulder.”
    For a moment, just a brief one, he
thought he felt a cold touch on his left shoulder. Great. Now she
was making him imagine things. Deciding not to add more fuel to the
fire, he spun on his heels and left.
    A waste of his time. That’s all it
was. One big waste of his time. Spiritual things. A world where
demons and angels ran around but no one could detect them, except
for a select few like Autumn. He shook his head. It couldn’t be
real. There was no way it could be real.
    He returned to his car and got in,
quickly looking over his shoulder and to his side. Nothing. There
wasn’t anything there. And yet...and yet... He shivered and started
the car.
    How many times had he told people that
government conspiracy theories were crazy, even though he knew the
truth? He lived the truth every day of his life. He knew things he
wished he didn’t and had heard conversations he wished he hadn’t.
Plans were in the works to collapse the worlds’ economies so a one
world currency would go into place. There were plans to devastate
areas through manipulating the weather. Increased earthquakes,
tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts... Plans to unite the
governments into a one world order. So many things were happening
behind the scenes, and God help him but he was a part of it; he was
responsible for some of it.
    He chuckled and shook his head. God
help him? Now she had him thinking of God.
    He drove to one of the exits in the
parking lot and rolled his window down where a security guard
stood. Taking out his government ID, he handed it to the guard who
scanned it over.
    “ Drive safe, Mr. Patrick,”
the man said with a solemn nod.
    Devon took his ID back, nodded in
return, and drove off, watching in the rearview mirror as the
driver in the car behind him stopped so he could pass through the
security clearance.