Backtracker (50 page)

"
Oh,
"
said Dave, disappointed that his last hope of getting information had proven groundless.
"
Okay. Thanks.
"

"
G
'
night then,
"
said Mom, moving past him. Dave listened as her slippers scuffed over the carpet, whispering away from him, and then he heard his parents
'
bedroom door click shut.

With that, he was left alone in the living room.

There were four explanations that he could think of to justify Larry
'
s visit.

Maybe, Larry had come to the house to bid farewell, to say goodbye on his way out of town.

Maybe,
he'd
come for the nonexistent
video
, the fictional record of his appearance at Mr. Martin
'
s house the night of Tom
'
s suicide.

Perhaps,
he'd
been seeking Dave
'
s help in averting some tragedy predicted in a
"
flash.
"

Or, maybe, Larry had experienced a vision involving all or part of Dave
'
s family, and his visit had been a prelude to terrible things to come.

From what little his parents had told him, Dave
couldn
'
t
guess which explanation carried the most weight. Of the quartet of possibilities, he liked the fourth the least...and yet, because it was the most ominous, the most dangerous, he pinpointed it, singled it out for the most attention.

If Larry had indeed glimpsed a tragic event in the Heinrich family
'
s future, Dave would probably be helpless to prevent it. Even if he found out what the crisis would be, he doubted that he could nullify it; according to the restrictions that Larry had described, the strange laws governing his prophecies, Dave was hamstrung, unable to effect change. He knew of Larry
'
s psychic powers, and that in itself rendered him useless. In addition, he was a close relation of the people who might be victims...if he
wasn
'
t
a victim himself; Larry had said that family of those whom he saw in his
"
flashes
"
usually
couldn
'
t
change things.

Though he was disturbed by the thought that he might be helpless in the event of a predestined calamity, Dave was most upset by his total lack of information about what might be coming. If Larry had forecast a disaster, Dave had no way of knowing its nature; he was completely in the dark, unable to guess at what sort of doom might be hurtling his way. Without a clue to what shape the tragedy might take, he
wouldn
'
t
even be able to try to stop it,
couldn
'
t
make a desperate attempt to avert it.

Anything could happen, at any time, anywhere, to anyone. Disaster could strike like a sudden, fierce storm, and Dave
wouldn
'
t
recognize the storm until it hit; until something finally happened...
if
it happened...he would know only that there was a chance that destructive forces were on the way.

Dave dropped his knapsack to the floor and slumped into the recliner. Propping an elbow on an arm of the chair, he placed a hand against his sweaty brow and tried to figure out what he could do next.

He wanted to watch over his family, try to protect them from what might be coming, but he realized that would be next to impossible. Though he could stay awake all night and guard his mother and father while they slept, his brother was still out roaming. Dave had no idea where Jeff might be, and he
couldn
'
t
afford to search for the teenager; if he left the house, his mother and father would be vulnerable
-
though he
didn
'
t
doubt that they were vulnerable even with him there
-
and anyway, there was no guarantee that he could locate Jeff even if he tried.

If Jeff returned safely, and the family made it through the night without incident, how could Dave hope to shepherd them safely through the day to come? Once they awoke the next morning
-
if
they awoke
-
the Heinrichs would scatter like birds from a gunshot, swooping off in different directions. Ann would race off to work at the bottling plant; her husband would hurry to the church to begin his day
'
s custodial labors; Jeff would zip off to Highland High School. With the family divided, Dave
wouldn
'
t
be able to guard each potential victim,
wouldn
'
t
be able to watch their every movement for every minute of the day, as he knew that he must. He could shuttle from one place to the next, dart from the bottling plant to the church, from the church to the school, from the school back to the bottling plant; he could spend the entire day in transit, checking on each member of his family in succession, running around town in a frenzy...and yet, he
couldn
'
t
be with everyone all the time. For extended periods, his mother and father and brother would be out of his sight.

What could he
do
?
How could he hope to protect his family, and himself, from what might be coming, when
he had
no idea from what direction it might come? Would he have to spend his next days speeding madly around town, chasing each member of his family, praying that he would be in the right place at the right time? What if the very act of trying to ward off danger was the thing which would lead him to disaster?

Teeth clenched, features crumpled in a strained grimace, Dave tried to come up with a plan. Desperately, he struggled to think of a way to protect his family, ward off whatever catastrophe might be approaching.

As hard as he tried, he
couldn
'
t
produce an idea of any merit. Every thought that he followed eventually led to a dead
-
end. Without knowing whom the disaster might strike, when, where, or how it might materialize, he
couldn
'
t
formulate a strategy to neutralize it. He simply
didn
'
t
know enough,
didn
'
t
even know if there
would
be a calamity.

That was the whole problem: he
didn
'
t
know enough. If he knew for sure that there was an impending peril, and he was aware of its nature, perhaps he could do something about it. Larry had had some success in manipulating people to change the future that he saw in his visions; maybe, Dave could do the same thing, turn an unsuspecting friend to the task...if only he knew more about what was coming.

Dave needed more information, and he realized that the only way that he could get it would be to confront Larry. In order to learn the truth, Dave would have to seek out the psychic and stage a new interrogation.

Briefly, Dave considered leaving immediately, driving to Larry
'
s place and demanding a full report. He quickly rejected the idea; he
didn
'
t
want to leave the house and his parents unguarded, exposed to whatever danger might be waiting to spring.

He considered telephoning Larry;
he'd
memorized the number that
he'd
seen in Larry
'
s file, the number that Larry had said belonged to the bar beneath his room. If he did call, however, Dave might not be able to reach Larry, for it was possible that
he'd
already skipped town. Even if he got in touch with the guy, Dave might not be able to wrest any information from him; Larry was such a tough nut to crack, Dave doubted that he would easily dispense sensitive data over the phone. Most likely, Dave believed, the only way to get Larry to say anything would be to badger him face to face.

Still, the way that things now stood, Dave
didn
'
t
know how he
could initiate a face
-
to
-
face
meeting. Certainly, he
couldn
'
t
risk abandoning his parents tonight, and he might have to spend his next days chasing the family around town. Unless the psychic came to him, Dave might not be able to question him in person.

Try as he might, Dave
couldn
'
t
think of a way to seek answers from Larry without jeopardizing his family. It would be impossible enough to be in three places at once, trying to watch over his brother, father, and mother; he
didn
'
t
see how he could also manage to be in a fourth place, tracking down Larry Smith. Operating alone, he
couldn
'
t
do everything.

He realized that he needed to get help. He
couldn
'
t
do everything alone; he needed someone to aid him in combating the nightmare.

With someone else on his side, he might stand a chance of fending off a catastrophe. A partner would double his ability to keep track of the family; a partner might also provide crucial input, see the situation from a different perspective, come up with a plan that Dave
wouldn
'
t
have conceived on his own. At the very least, a helper could guard the family while Dave hunted down the psychic and squeezed vital information out of him.

Dave
didn
'
t
have a difficult time deciding on a candidate. Billy Bristol was scrappy and quick
-
witted, gutsy and sharp; there was no one else whom Dave would rather have backing him up in a time of trouble.

A while ago, Dave had partially confided in his friend, told him some of his suspicions regarding Larry; he
hadn
'
t
divulged the most persuasive evidence, however
-
Boris
'
suicide attempt
-
and Billy had scoffed at the notion that Larry was psychic. Dave felt sure that once he told Billy about what had happened with Boris, once he detailed Larry
'
s confession and his involvement with Ernie
'
s parents and Mr. Martin, Billy
wouldn
'
t
be able to scoff. If he rolled out the whole story, held nothing back, Dave believed that he could convince Billy of Larry
'
s true nature and talk him into wholeheartedly helping in the fight.

Of course, by telling Billy everything, by making him aware of Larry
'
s talents, Dave would probably reduce his pal
'
s effectiveness. Possessing full knowledge of the psychic
'
s abilities, Billy might not be able to interfere directly in the chain of events which might be coming. Still, Dave decided that it would be worth the risk to bring Billy into the fray; he desperately needed assistance, no matter how limited it might be, and he knew that he would feel a lot better if
he had
someone else on his side.

Abandoning the recliner, he hurried to the kitchen and snatched the receiver from the phone on the wall. As he punched the buttons on the phone, he prayed that Billy was home, that he would swiftly answer the call.

Dave heard a click, then a ring on the line.

There was a second ring, and a third...then a fourth and a fifth and a sixth. With each new ring, Dave lost a bit more hope that Billy Bristol would answer the call.

After the twelfth ring, Dave hung up. Dejectedly, he plodded from the kitchen and slumped back into the recliner.

Face buried in his hands, he hunched in the darkened living room. Sweating and shivering, he tried to clear his mind, subdue the fearful images of doom and death that filled him; he failed miserably. He
couldn
'
t
help but conjure scenarios, imagine the terrible events which might unfold at any moment.

Heart pounding, head spinning, Dave struggled to think of something that he could do next, some step that he could take to deal with the crisis.
He had
no luck.