Backtracker (105 page)

"
I couldn
'
t help myself,
"
Larry said at last, shaking his head.
"
I had to be with you all. It was strange...but sometimes, especially when you weren
'
t around...when I was working with Billy and the others, or you
'
d wandered away at a party and I was just there with my old gang...sometimes, I really felt like I
was
my old self, like I
was
reliving the best times of my life...like I
'
d never left. Sometimes, I felt like the rest of my life had never happened...like it had all been a bad dream.

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
said Larry, again looking to the lake.
"
I
'
m sorry for that. I had no right. I was...selfish.

"
I was selfish and stupid,
"
said the killer, his voice swelling with remorse.
"
Not only did I get close to you when I should
'
ve stayed away...but I got you involved. I didn
'
t mean to, but I pulled you into this.

"
I warned you that someone at the steakhouse might betray you. I shouldn
'
t
'
ve said anything, should
'
ve just let it happen...but I went ahead and did it. I just wanted to help, and I didn
'
t think you
'
d realize there was anything unusual about it...which, of course, you did.

"
Then, at that party, I dropped hints that the cops might have a problem with the way you guys parked. Again, I was stupid. I figured no one would think anything of it, or maybe they
'
d pick up on the hint and move their cars. I thought I could save everybody some trouble, or else they
'
d think it was just a coincidence.

"
Naturally, you caught on to that one, too.

"
I guess my biggest mistake...was getting you to save Boris,
"
Larry said pensively.
"
I should
'
ve just gone after him myself.

"
I just...I wasn
'
t sure I could stop him from killing himself. He didn
'
t really
know
me the way that I am, and I didn
'
t know if he would listen to me. I figured you would have a better chance with him.

"
It crossed my mind that I shouldn
'
t drag you into it,
"
sighed Larry.
"
I realized it might be risky for me...for my work. To tell you the truth, saving Boris wasn
'
t even part of my original plan. Boris was never my
best
friend, y
'
know, not like Billy or Ernie.

"
Still, when the time came, I couldn
'
t sit back and let him die. I just couldn
'
t...and I had to be sure that he wouldn
'
t go through with it...so I got you to stop him.

"
That was enough to really get you going. You knew something was up with me, and you got serious about finding out what it was.

"
I tried to brush it off, but you wouldn
'
t leave me alone. You kept asking questions...and then I slipped up again by asking about Ernie
'
s parents the night before they died.

"
I was careless. I was a little drunk that night...and I guess I was trying to set everyone up for what would happen the next day. I guess I thought that by talking about how many accidents happened this time of year, everyone would more easily accept that Ernie
'
s folks
'
death was an accident.

"
I don
'
t know,
"
said Larry, and he shrugged.
"
I guess I was just careless...and I underestimated you. I forgot how sharp you are...how sharp I was when I was you.

"
You really came after me, didn
'
t you
?
"
said Larry, flashing a smile at Dave.
"
You came after me with both barrels.

"
You followed me to Martin
'
s house the night I kill
ed him...and then you tried to
blackmail
me with that
video
you claimed to have.
"
Still smiling, Larry chuckled and wagged his head.

"
I thought that story about me being psychic threw you off, but then you just kept after me! You wouldn
'
t even quit after you saw what I
'
d done at Wolf
'
s Rock...not even after I told you Billy
'
s
future
was at stake!

"
You
'
re really something else
!
"
grinned Larry.
"
Even after you saw how I killed that
kid
, you wouldn
'
t back down! Hell...you came
after
me! I was afraid you
'
d call the
cops
,
and you came
after
me! God only
knows
how you
found
me...but you did!

"
I don
'
t know,
"
chuckled Larry, eyes glinting from his dark face.
"
I guess I should be
proud
of myself for tracking me down so well.
"

Larry laughed, but his amusement
didn
'
t
last; the laughter and the smile quickly faded, and he again turned his face toward the lake.

"
Anyway, I wish I hadn
'
t gotten you involved,
"
the killer said softly.
"
I wish it hadn
'
t all come to this.

"
It...wasn
'
t supposed to happen this way. Billy was supposed to get the job he
'
d always wanted at Wild West...and you and he and Ernie should
'
ve lived happily ever after.

"
When I left the house, I really thought you two wouldn
'
t catch up to me...until I
'
d finished with the baby. I didn
'
t think...for God
'
s sake, I didn
'
t think things would turn out this way.

"
There wasn
'
t anything else I could do...except come here.

"
I didn
'
t know how much time I had left. When I made the deal with that guy to come back, he
'
d said I
'
d have enough time to finish my plan...but what he didn
'
t tell me was that I
'
d start
rotting
like this toward the end. I guess that was just another little bonus he threw in.

"
Once I got the baby, I didn
'
t know how much longer I
'
d be in any shape to finish things off. For all I knew, my
'
travel agent
'
had lied to me from the start and I wouldn
'
t
be able to finish my plan before I completely fell apart.

"
I didn
'
t have any choice. I had to come here. According to the deal, I had to finish the last step of the plan here, where I was dropped off. I
had
to finish the plan, I
had
to do it here...and I thought I
'
d be done before you two caught up with me,
if
you could even
find
me here.

"
I didn
'
t want to risk trying to finish somewhere else. I was afraid if I didn
'
t stick to the deal...my
'
travel agent
'
would take it all back...all the changes I
'
d made.

"
I understand now,
"
Larry said ruefully.
"
I understand why he made the deal the way he did.

"
I understand...why he made me promise to finish things here,
"
said Larry, covering his eyes with one blackened hand.
"
I should
'
ve known...he
'
d figure out a way to screw me.
"

*****

Dave Heinrich watched and listened,
didn
'
t
think. The currents of his mind were still and silent.

Dave
didn
'
t
think about how bitingly cold the air had become, how the rain felt like a shower of ice. He
didn
'
t
think about how much his hands ached after holding the gun for so long. He
didn
'
t
think about the infant
'
s continual shrieking or the crackling of thunder overhead. He
didn
'
t
think about home or Darlene or that body which
wasn
'
t
Billy Bristol.

He
didn
'
t
think about what the killer was saying. He watched and listened, but
didn
'
t
think,
didn
'
t
think about anything.

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
Larry said raggedly, drawing his hand from his eyes.
"
I
'
m sorry that I...botched things up in the end. I really tried...to do what was best for you.

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
whispered Larry, gazing down at the corpse in the sand.
"
I
'
m truly sorry.
"

Dave also looked down at the body, the strange, still form. He
didn
'
t
think about it; he
didn
'
t
feel a thing.

"
I can
'
t ask you to forgive me,
"
said Larry, looking up at Dave.
"
I just want you to know...I
'
m sorry.

"
If I could...I would take this back. I would do anything...if it would bring back Billy.

"
I would do
anything
,
"
whispered Larry, wincing beseechingly at the sky.

For a moment, the killer stared at the darkened heavens, gazed into the storm as if he expected a godly voice to offer him a new deal. No answer boomed from the clouds; there
wasn
'
t
even a roll of thunder to suggest that
he'd
been heard by anyone but Dave.

"
I don
'
t care...if you don
'
t believe me,
"
Larry said haltingly, dropping his eyes to meet Dave
'
s gaze.
"
It doesn
'
t matter...if you don
'
t believe what I
'
ve told you. If I was you...after everything that
'
s happened...I wouldn
'
t believe me, either.

"
It
'
s probably better...if you don
'
t believe me. It
'
ll be better for you...if you just think of me as some maniac...some psychopath who never had anything to do with you.

"
It
'
ll be better that way,
"
nodded Larry, eyes gleaming like coins in the darkness.
"
It
'
ll be better if you don
'
t try to believe.
"

Dave watched without blinking, listened without thinking. Larry
'
s words meant nothing to him, nothing at all; for all the effect that the killer
'
s confession was having on Dave, Larry might as well have been moving his lips without making a sound.

"
I only hope...that everything turns out all right for you,
"
said Larry.
"
I hope...that despite what happened to Billy...what I
'
ve done...you
'
ll have a better life than I did.

"
I hope the changes I
'
ve made here in the past...in your present...will at least do
some
good. I hope that the terrible things I
'
ve done...won
'
t all have been for nothing.
"

Dave listened. He heard the rush and spatter of the rain; he heard the wailing of the child.

He heard a rumble of thunder.

"
Please...try to forget all this,
"
said Larry.
"
Don
'
t dwell on it. That was always my biggest problem
-
I couldn
'
t forget.

"
Cry...for Billy...always remember him...but don
'
t let this hold you back. Don
'
t let it make you bitter.

"
Forget...the hate,
"
said Larry.
"
Forget me.
"

Motionless, thoughtless, emotionless, Dave listened. He heard the moaning of the frigid wind; he heard his own breath.

He heard the killer sigh.

Larry raised a withered hand to rub his chin. His thumb and forefinger closed on the blackened flesh, pressed together as he started to knead.

He
didn
'
t
continue to rub his chin. Slowly, he pulled his hand from the spot, looked down at the gnarled claw.

A chunk of meat had tugged free of his chin.

It had easily separated from the surrounding flesh, had come away like a loose patch of fabric from a garment. Larry
hadn
'
t
yanked, had hardly applied any pressure.

The dark flap dangled from between his thumb and forefinger; it looked like a hunk of burnt beef or a torn bit of rubber, a black wattle of latex.

Eyes wide, Larry stared at the thing.

Dave stared, too. He saw the limp shred which had once been a part of Larry Smith; he saw it flutter as Larry
'
s hand began to shake.

He saw the new white, too, the pure white which had appeared on Larry...the ivory knob of bone which had been revealed when the meat came away.

"
No,
"
whimpered Larry as he stared at the piece of himself.
"
Not yet. I
'
m not ready to
go
yet.
"

Dave listened and watched,
didn
'
t
move,
didn
'
t
think. Gazing at the killer, he saw the knob of bone emerge more fully; as the skin of Larry
'
s face tightened in a horrified grimace, the flesh around the chin winched back, widening the opening through which the bone protruded.

Sobbing and shuddering, Larry raised another hand to his face. Gingerly, he dabbed at his forehead, his nose, his lips; shivering fingertips brushed over his features, hardly touched them, just skimmed the corrupted flesh as if he were taking inventory of the parts that remained.

Larry
'
s finger dusted over his cheek, then stopped.

"
I
'
m not
ready
,
"
he gurgled.
"
Not
yet
.
Oh God, not yet!
"

His twitching fingers abruptly pressed against his cheek and flexed.

"
Not
yet
!
"
shrieked Larry.
"
I
'
m not
done
!
"

His hand came away from his face; much of his cheek did the same.

"
Oh God
!
"
he yowled.
"
Oh God
!
"

The second flap of removed flesh quivered in his grasp. He held the blackened scrap in front of him, beside the first piece.

Dave watched. He saw the two hunks of the killer
'
s face, the rotten strips jiggling in dark, spastic fingers. He saw Larry sob and heave with a panicked intensity, an hysteria far beyond any prior agitation.

He saw more white. Through the gaping hole in Larry
'
s cheek, he saw the white of teeth, rows of teeth unveiled from the side of the face.

"
No
!
"
screamed Larry.
"
God,
no
!
"

Dave listened and watched. He watched Larry
'
s teeth move as the killer howled.

"
I
'
m not
ready
!
"
wailed Larry.

Through the side of Larry
'
s face, Dave could see Larry
'
s blackened tongue slide and flicker, shift and jump.

Emitting a long and incoherent cry, Larry flung aside the two pieces of himself, tossed them away into the sand. Clenching his fists, he dropped his head and plunged into a fierce fit of sobbing.

Dave watched and listened,
didn
'
t
think. He stared at Larry
'
s exposed chin and teeth, and he
didn
'
t
think.

"
Oh God,
"
blubbered Larry.
"
I
'
m not ready. I don
'
t want to go yet.
"

Thunder crashed explosively, but Dave
didn
'
t
flinch. He was mesmerized by the motion of the killer
'
s tongue and teeth, the strange cutaway view of the mouth.

"
I
'
m not...ready,
"
whimpered Larry.

Dave watched and listened. He was unmoved by the killer
'
s distraught presentation; he felt neither revulsion nor pity.

Dave felt nothing, nothing at all.

He felt nothing, and that
wasn
'
t
Billy Bristol and Larry
hadn
'
t
killed him and none of this was real and he felt nothing.

"
Not...yet,
"
sobbed Larry, whipping his head from side to side.
"
It can
'
t...be over...yet.
"

As Larry wept and shook, Dave
'
s gaze drifted to the body in the sand. The corpse
'
s face was unfamiliar, the face of a stranger; it was certainly not the face of Dave
'
s best friend.

Dave felt nothing. When he looked at the corpse, he felt nothing.

"
I need...more time,
"
mewled Larry.
"
I want...to
stay
.
"
Three bursts of thunder echoed over the beach area of Cross Creek State Park. The infant
'
s shrieking rose to shrill new heights.

"
I don
'
t...want to go,
"
gurgled Larry.

Dave watched and listened.

He
didn
'
t
think.

He felt nothing.

That
wasn
'
t
Billy Bristol.

He felt nothing.

He felt nothing.