Law reverses his Tahoe and heads back toward Nazareth on Rattlesnake Road. Just like the previous night, everything is quiet except the pattering of rain on the roof. Harper glances back through the rear window in time to see the church illuminated by a flash of lightning: It continues to look remarkably like a face, but where once it seemed menacing it's now forlorn as it watches the group disappear into the desert.
As unsettled by the silence as he was last night, Law turns on the radio. It's the Witching Hour, a late night talk program run by some local named Donald Waters. The locals in the group know of the Waters Radio Station in northeastern Nazareth - near Rattlesnake Road in fact. Chance in particular knows exactly who "Donald" is.
"... and who knows what they're not telling us? My source in Tucson says it looked like there was some, uh, occult stuff going on in that trailer, in that Fleetwood." Everyone in the SUV exchanges looks. It wasn't a Fleetwood, it was a Winnebago, but close enough. Penrose had said he was going to have Faye call in the trailer anonymously. It was near Tucson, so it makes sense she'd call the police department there. "Now, I'm not gonna try to convince you that magic is real, OK? I'm not an idiot, and, and, I know none of you are." Donald Waters doesn't seem particularly good at this - he's been on the air for almost a year but he still manages to seem nervous and rambling. Chance knows Donnie probably wouldn't have a job if he weren't Joel's nephew, but his heart's in the right place. "But why haven't they released a statement about this stuff? Sure, some lame post on the Tucson PD's Twitter account, but they haven't mentioned anything about, uh, you know, this extra stuff that I'm privy to."
The trip through Nazareth is quick, with most of the streets empty. It's at about 10:45 PM, a little over a half an hour after they first arrived at the church, that Law is pulling up outside 1505 Robert E. Lee Road. It's the last house at the end of a cul-de-sac in a decent neighborhood in southern Nazareth, surrounded by single story lower-middle class homes with lawns of either yellowed grass or desert rocks. There are two nearby street lights that provide a small amount of ambient illumination. 1505 is probably the shabbiest house on the street but it's been made to look as nice as possible, and it's obvious why:
1505 Robert E. Lee Road is for sale.
A sign in the lawn advertises the phone number of a real estate agent named P. Morgan. The house itself, a blue home with darkened windows, was probably built in the 70s and has a black mono-pitched roof. There's no garage, and the driveway is empty save a patch of white paint that likely covers an oil stain. Basement windows peek out from beneath the house.
The voice on the radio continues. "And, really, this is just a part of an ongoing problem. No transparency in our government, at all, at any level, you know?" Seems he's moving on to another topic.
