― Anna Funder*
Maggie
I mistook a night terror for a demonic attack.
Strange to say, but I felt relieved. Although both experiences can be unbelievably frightening, experiencing a night terror is preferable to being left at the mercy of Bane and his demonic forces.
I will take a nightmare anytime to being under demonic attack and enduring that dark night of the soul where you feel powerless and totally alone.
The following morning at breakfast, I was telling Andie how relieved I felt that I wasn’t under attack when the phone rang. It was Maggie asking us to drop by the precinct later that afternoon for an update on the case.
Andie frowned after I ended the call. "I wonder why they they just don't give us the update over the phone? I'm beginning to think Maggie likes seeing you."
"Yeah, I'm such a Lothario," I joked, but inside felt guilty that her instincts were right. I didn't want to tell her how Maggie came on to me—it would just worry her and make her wonder if I reciprocated Maggie's advances and it might cause her to doubt my fidelity.
Then it occurred to me that Maggie's flirting with me was also a form of demonic attack meant to separate us both and create conflict between us.
Maggie wasn't consciously consorting with demons but she was being used as a tool by them to attack us.
The thought of having to be in the same room with Maggie when Andie was present made me nauseous, but it was unavoidable.
I was sure Maggie would be more subdued with Andie present...but what if she wasn't?
Yeah, I didn't even want to entertain that thought.
Andie would be working until late in the afternoon trying to wrap up her business with her clients.
She'd drop by the house to pick me up and we'd drive to the precinct to confer with the detectives—well, that was the plan, but lately all our plans were subject to change.
I spent a miserable day imagining various ways this meeting could go sideways, until I finally gave up trying to anticipate dire scenarios and went for a jog which got my mind off the problem.
It was absurd anyway, trying to expect the unexpected.
As it turned out, all my worries were for naught. Maggie was called to attend to another matter leaving only Noah to update us.
He was all business and frankly, the news was good.
"Our informants have provided us with evidence of Bane defrauding clients and misappropriating funds,” he told us, "and he also used threats and coercion to keep employees in line."
"Do you have enough to charge him?" I asked.
He nodded, "We're just waiting for the D.A, to issue the warrants and we'll move in. Apparently, there's another Empowerment Session tonight at his estate."
He looked at me but I shook my head. "There's no chance I'll attend that meeting."
He smiled, "I don't blame you. It will be wild.”
A half hour later, Andie and I were sitting in Rialto Ristorante, an upscale Italian eatery, toasting with champagne.
It almost seemed anticlimactic that Bane and his demonic forces would be taken down for mundane corporate crimes.
“I thought there’d be war in the heavenlies,”I sighed, “ I anticipated an epic battle—The Watchers versus the demons.”
Andie laughed, “Are you disappointed?”
I shrugged, “I guess I am, a little. I figured Bane would go out with a bang.”
She waxed philosophical.
“What’s that famous quote—the banality of evil? That seems to sum it up. You don’t need powerful world leaders to commit atrocities—sometimes ordinary folk like Bane are quite capable of the most evil offences.”
Bane and banality? Yeah, that seemed appropriate.