Backtracker (64 page)

*****

Chapter
27

Dave felt some small relief when he saw Billy. Some yards away, Billy lay face
-
up on the dirt floor of the cavity; he
wasn
'
t
mangled,
wasn
'
t
even bloodied. Though Dave
couldn
'
t
judge definitively if he was alive,
couldn
'
t
tell from a distance if his chest was rising and falling, at least Billy
'
s eyes were shut,
weren
'
t
winched open in a sightless death
-
stare.

Dave
'
s heart skipped a beat when he spotted his tormentor. Hands on his hips, Larry Smith loomed beside his captive, gazing coolly from the trench. Goateed and brawny, he
didn
'
t
look any different than usual, but the sight of him still made Dave want to run.

For a moment, Larry simply stood there and met Dave
'
s stare,
didn
'
t
say a thing. His expression was neutral, unreadable...but his eyes held a strange intensity.

Eyes still locked with Dave
'
s, Larry sighed and shook his head. Folding his arms over his black T
-
shirt, he took a single step forward; immediately, Dave tensed, preparing to lunge away if an attack came...but Larry stopped after that one step and leaned casually against the wall of the trough.

"
You surprised me,
"
he said at last, his tone steady and familiar.
"
You know, I had no idea you were following me until I heard you guys up there.
"

Shivering, soaked with sweat, Dave listened. Terror and confusion chewed up his brain like spinning twin blades.

"
Anyway,
"
continued Larry,
"
I haven
'
t hurt your pal. Gave him a couple bruises, I guess, but he
'
ll be all right.
"
With a sigh, Larry glanced down at his victim, then returned his gaze to Dave.
"
He
is
alive,
"
he declared firmly, pinpointing Dave
'
s chief concern.
"
He
'
s out like a light, but I didn
'
t kill him. I could
never
kill him.
"

Dave frowned but said nothing.

"
That
'
s right,
"
said Larry.
"
I only told you I
'
d kill him to get you to come over here and listen to me. I
'
m sorry, but I knew it was the only way to get you to stick around. I
'
m sure you
'
re upset, but I hope you
'
ll stay and hear me out anyway.
"

Dave
didn
'
t
move.
He
ha
d
to stay, of course; Larry
'
s assurances were no guarantee of Billy
'
s safety.

"
What I have to tell you is very important,
"
announced Larry.
"
You see, I
'
ve been lying to you for a long time. To be perfectly honest, I hoped I
'
d never have to tell you anything...but now, I don
'
t have any choice. I have to set the record straight, once and for all.
"

Arms at his sides, hands twitching, Dave listened.

"
I know what you
'
re probably thinking,
"
said Larry, and he paused, looked away as if pondering what he would say next.
"
You must think I
'
m...some kind of psychotic killer,
"
he continued, speaking slowly.
"
You
'
re probably asking yourself
'
Why? Why would he
do
such a terrible thing?
'
You probably...hate me. You
'
re probably scared to death of me.
"

Larry paused again. Brow furrowed, he stared up at Dave as if searching for a reaction; Dave flinched from his gaze, flicked his eyes away to stare at Billy.

"
Well, you shouldn
'
t be scared,
"
said Larry.
"
I won
'
t hurt you...
or
Billy. That
'
s the
last
thing I would want to do. As a matter of fact, I
can
'
t
hurt you.

"
I can
'
t hurt you,
"
repeated Larry.
"
I just want you to listen to what I have to say. I have to explain...maybe I
need
to explain to someone.

"
I don
'
t expect you to sympathize or forgive me. I don
'
t expect you to believe everything I tell you...but I hope you
'
ll try to understand.
I need you to understand, because this is almost over
--
all
of it
--
but it can
'
t end unless you understand and
let
it end.
"

As confused and sick as ever, Dave shook and listened silently. He wondered what Larry was getting at, what he was building up to, what new myth the master deceiver was about to spin. Larry claimed to be seeking understanding, but Dave thought that he understood enough, enough to know that he
shouldn
'
t
listen or be anywhere near the monster.

Turning his gaze pensively to the floor of the trench, Larry began to stroke his goatee.
"
A couple days ago,
"
he said slowly,
"
I told you some stories. Well, that
'
s all they were...just stories.

"
I told you I can see the future, that I have flashes of things that will happen. Well, that was a lie.

"
I
do
know what
'
s going to happen to certain people, but it
'
s not because I
'
m psychic. I don
'
t have any amazing powers or anything like that.

"
You might as well forget everything I told you the other day,
"
said Larry, and then he sighed.
"
It was all bullshit.

"
I never saved a guy
'
s life by predicting that
he had
die in a fire. I never predicted that my girlfriend in Germany would be raped and murdered. I
'
ve never even
been
to Germany.

"
None
of it was true,
"
Larry stated emphatically, clipping a hand through the air.

"
You see, there were things that I had to do...
important
things...and I couldn
'
t do them if anyone
knew
about them. When you kept nosing around...well,
I had to tell you
something
.
I
had
to lie to you.

"
I
'
m sorry about that,
"
sighed Larry.
"
I hated to do it...more than you can imagine...but I
had
to.
"

Standing stiffly at the edge of the cleft, Dave felt a surge of disgust. Larry
'
s confession
didn
'
t
surprise him...not now, not after the kid in the trench...but the calm with which Larry unveiled his lies, the tranquil sincerity in his tone, filled Dave with revulsion. The man had just committed a brutal murder, Billy Bristol lay at his feet, and yet he spoke with coolness and civility, dared to play at being something other than a monster.

"
You know, I have to admit...you
'
re pretty sharp,
"
Larry said admiringly.
"
Right from the start, you knew that something was up. I made a few mistakes, and you were all over me. I guess I should
'
ve expected that. Naturally, of all people,
you
were the one to catch on.

"
I really thought I could steer you away, though. Even when you came up with that
video
business, I figured I could handle you. I told you what you were already convinced of...that I was psychic...and I made up that long, involved story to explain everything. I
'
ll tell ya
'
, I really thought that did the trick.
"

Larry paused briefly, cast a puzzled frown at Dave.
"
I
'
m curious,
"
he said, stroking his goatee.
"
What exactly made you come after me again? What made you decide to follow me here?
"

Dave
didn
'
t
answer.

"
All right then,
"
shrugged Larry.
"
You don
'
t have to tell me if you don
'
t want to. It really isn
'
t important anyway.

"
All that really matters is that you
did
follow me, and here you are, and I have to deal with you. I have to convince you to let me finish what I started.
"
Larry paused again; he cleared his throat, rubbed the back of his neck, then returned his gaze to the listener above him.

"
No more lies,
"
he said firmly.
"
I don
'
t have time for lies. From here on out, I
'
ll only give you the truth.

"
That boy over in the crack,
"
he said, tipping his head in the general direction of the trench with the dead kid.
"
I killed him.

"
Tom Martin didn
'
t commit suicide, either,
"
said Larry.
"
Remember how you saw me at his house the night he died? I wasn
'
t there to try to save him. I was there to kill him.

"
I didn
'
t predict that Ernie
'
s parents would die in a car accident. I
made
the accident happen.
"

Dave blanched. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened.

"
That
'
s right,
"
said Larry.
"
I killed them.

"
I killed them all.
"

*****

Chapter
28

Dave was drowning. On dry land, under clear blue skies, he was sinking fast.

He teetered dizzily. For a moment, he thought that he would topple into the trench.

"
Ah,
"
nodded Larry Smith.
"
You didn
'
t guess the others,
did
you? I didn
'
t think so. My stories must not have worked
too
badly, then.
"

In a futile attempt to mask the depth of his shock, Dave narrowed his eyes and clamped his mouth shut.

"
There
were
others,
"
said Larry.
"
Other murders, that is. People you don
'
t know. I guess I
'
ve killed six so far.

"
I do have one more to go, though.
"

Ominously, Larry
'
s words echoed in Dave
'
s mind.
'
One more to go,
'
the monster had said...and Dave wondered who the
'
one
'
would be.

'
I
'
ve killed six so far,
'
Larry had stated matter
-
of
-
factly, and the number had given Dave a chill. He counted the victims of whom he was aware: the faceless kid; Mr. and Mrs. Dumbrowski; Mr. Martin. Four; he tallied four of the six.

Then, he remembered the Rolex. The inscription had read
'
Kimmel
'
; Billy had associated that with Roger Kimmel...the same Roger Kimmel whose son had perished in a recent fire.

'
There
were
others,
'
Larry had said.
'
People you don
'
t know.
'

Dave thought that he knew one of the others.

Roger Kimmel
'
s son made five, five of the six. Dave wondered who the other one had been.

"
Anyway, there were six,
"
continued Larry.
"
That might seem like a lot to you, but there were reasons why I killed every one of them...
good
reasons. I didn
'
t do it because I
like
to kill people. Matter of fact, this has probably been the hardest stuff I
'
ve ever done in my life...but I
had
to do it.

"
I had to do it for
him
,
"
said Larry, looking down at the unmoving form of Billy Bristol.
"
All of it,
all
of it was for him.
"

For a long moment, Larry
didn
'
t
speak. Leaning against the wall of the trench, he stared thoughtfully at Billy, seemed lost in dark and unguessable ruminations.

At last, he looked up at Dave.
"
April, five years ago,
"
he said cryptically, and then he again looked at Billy Bristol.

"
You were in high school. You wanted a job so you could get some spending money. Your grandfather often ate at the Wild West Steakhouse, and he put in a good word for you with the management.

"
You were interviewed and hired in the same day. That was when you first met Billy.
"

Larry turned his face toward Dave, fixing him in a calm gaze.

Caught off
-
guard by the unexpected twist in the monologue, Dave
couldn
'
t
stop a startled frown from congealing his features.

"
They put you in the dishroom,
"
said Larry.
"
You were supposed to train with Billy that evening. One of the first things he said to you was
'
Go to the basement and get me some more soap.
'

"
Of course, there
wasn
'
t
any basement,
"
said Larry, a grin emerging on his face.
"
You didn
'
t find that out until you
'
d spent a half
-
hour
looking
for one, though. You asked everybody, and they all sent you hunting in a different direction.

"
It was a kind of initiation. Billy finally let you in on it, and you were mad and embarrassed at first...but then he whacked you on the back and said
'
Congratulations! Welcome to Double Doubleyoo!
'
Pretty soon, you were laughing as hard as the rest of the crew.

"
You
'
ve been best friends ever since.
"

Dave
'
s frown deepened. Larry
'
s retelling of the friends
'
first meeting had been accurate in every way;
he'd
flawlessly described the incident from five years in the past...an incident which he
couldn
'
t
have witnessed.

Billy must have told him about it. That was the only explanation; during one of their drinking sessions, Billy must have told Larry the history of his friendship with Dave. Yes, that was a reasonable explanation...but
why
was Larry dragging out the information now?

"
Once, at the steakhouse, Mr. Martin gave you a really rough time,
"
resumed Larry after a brief pause.
"
During this one shift, he was on your back constantly. He made you do all kinds of extra work, and he made you dig through the dumpster with your bare hands to look for a wallet that some customer claimed he
'
d lost. You spent an hour up to your armpits in stinking garbage, and you never did find the wallet.

"
Martin wouldn
'
t let up. He kept harassing you, pushing you around. When you didn
'
t bus tables fast enough to suit him, he blew up at you. He screamed at you right in the middle of the dining room, in front of the customers and other crew
-
people.

"
You were really angry and upset. You wanted to get back at him somehow. Later that night, you did the only thing you could think of: you sneaked out to the parking lot and let the air out of two of the tires on his car.

"
Naturally, when Tom found out his tires were flat, he interrogated all the employees. He was sure one of you had done it, and he demanded to know who it was. You lied and told him you didn
'
t know anything about it.

"
The only other person who knew you did it was Billy, and he lied, too. Tom never found out who let the air out of his tires. It stuck in his craw, and he kept trying for
years
,
asking around every now and again...but he
never
knew it was you.
"

Dave was astonished.

Larry had just reeled off a story of which he should have had absolutely no knowledge. Billy Bristol was the
only one
who knew the truth of the incident, and
he'd
sworn
to keep the secret in order to protect Dave from the vindictive Mr. Martin.

Billy
must
have told Larry, shared the facts to which no one
-
not even Ernie
-
had access; there was
no
other way that Larry could have learned the story. Still, Dave was surprised and disturbed by the apparent breech of secrecy;
he'd
trusted Billy with everything, even the most personal data, and
he'd
always
believed that Billy would
never
betray him.

Dave wondered what else Billy had told Larry, what other secrets he might have compromised.

An answer came quickly:

"
Stacy Evans,
"
Larry said evenly.
"
Do you remember Stacy?

"
Billy never told anyone about her...about you and her, that is. Just like with Tom Martin
'
s tires.
"

Dave was flabbergasted.
He'd
expected to hear another story which only his confidant should have known, another secret no longer secret...but he
hadn
'
t
anticipated the mention of Stacy.

"
She was very attractive,
"
said Larry, nodding approvingly.
"
She worked at the steakhouse, went to Billy
'
s parties, and she was always trying to get you alone.

"
Stacy was very nice, and you
did
like her...but you could never bring yourself to return her affection. Problem was, she was black.

"
You were too afraid of what people would say about you to do anything with Stacy. Some of the gang were already teasing you about her, and
some
were being downright mean. It didn
'
t bother
you
that she was black, but when it came right down to it, you knew you couldn
'
t stand the complications and harassment you might have to put up with.

"
Still, she kept after you...and you started to think about her more and more often. You weren
'
t seeing anyone at the time, and you were lonely, and she
was
attractive and she
was
crazy about you.

"
You finally decided to give her a chance. As long as you could keep it secret, you thought it would work out.

"
So, during one of Billy
'
s parties, you slipped out of the trailer, and you had Billy arrange for Stacy to meet you. You went for a walk in the woods with her, and the two of you kissed and messed around some. Before you went back to the trailer
-
separately, of course
-
you set up a date with her.

"
Everything went well for a while. You and Stacy dated a couple times, and Billy acted as a go
-
between and helped keep it quiet.

"
Then, someone at the steakhouse got wind of what was going on. Somebody had seen you and Stacy together...and the next thing you knew, it was all over Wild West.

"
The teasing got worse, and everyone badgered you for details. Instead of showing some backbone, you denied everything.

"
You concocted ridiculous excuses to explain why you
'
d been with Stacy, and you got Billy to back you up. After all the good she
'
d done for you, you turned on her like
that
.
"
Dramatically, Larry snapped his fingers.

"
You dumped the poor girl, even spread lies about her...anything to keep your own ass out of the fire.

"
How did Stacy take it? She didn
'
t say a word. She let you take the coward
'
s way out, and she never exposed you. After two weeks, she quit the steakhouse, and you never saw her again.
"

Dave was stupefied. Grimacing, he clenched his hands into fists, stared incredulously at the man who knew far more than
he had
a right to know.

Stacy Evans. Dave
hadn
'
t
thought about her in years;
he'd
been deeply ashamed of the way that
he'd
treated her, had done his best to bury all memory of his brief dalliance with her. Stacy had left, the steakhouse gossip had subsided, and
he'd
forgotten...or, at least,
he'd
locked away his regret and self
-
loathing, plunged them into distant corners where they could do the least damage.

Now, the memories were set free; all the turbulent emotions of the long
-
ago incident leaped to the surface of his mind, shot from the darkness like jets of bubbles erupting from ocean divers. He felt a great sadness and shame, a shame intensified by the fact that someone else knew what
he'd
done, someone other than Billy.