Backtracker (76 page)

Personal; powerful; a threat.

He had
it.

The answer left his lips just as it formed in his mind. When he spoke, he was practically thinking out loud.

"
We can
'
t go to the cops,
"
he said gravely, sweeping his eyes up to meet Billy
'
s,
"
because Larry said he
'
ll kill my family if we do.
"

For a long moment, neither partner said a word. The lie hung between them like a curtain, a gauzy sheet through which they stared at one another, seeing only silhouettes.

Billy looked stunned. A baffled frown was frozen on his face; his mouth was open just wide enough to betray his surprise.

Dave stood stock
-
still, holding his breath, eyes glued to his friend. He felt relieved now that
he'd
produced an answer to Billy
'
s question, a good reason for avoiding the police; at the same time, he was worried that he
wouldn
'
t
be able to support the lie, build it up enough so that Billy
wouldn
'
t
only believe it, but would shape his actions according to it.

It
didn
'
t
seem that there was much chance of success; still, the first step had been taken, and retreat was impossible. Dave had no choice but to improvise and hope for some luck.

It was Billy who finally broke the silence.
"
He told you he
'
ll kill your family
?
"
he said slowly, as if uncertain that
he'd
heard correctly.

"
Uh
-
huh,
"
nodded Dave, keeping his expression grim, his voice low and even.
"
He said he
'
d get them if I went to the police.
"

Grimacing unbelievingly, Billy shook his head.
"
Well, that
'
s crazy,
"
he said.
"
How the hell
'
s he gonna
'
do anything to your family if the cops haul him in?
"

"
What if they
don
'
t
haul him in
?
"
Dave replied meaningfully.

"
I wouldn
'
t worry,
"
shrugged Billy.
"
If he gets away from them somehow, he
'
ll be too busy running to bother with your family. He
'
ll just want to get as far away from Confluence as he can, as fast as he can.
"

"
You sure about that
?
"
asked Dave.
"
I know
I
'
m
not.
"

"
He just said that to scare you,
"
asserted Billy.
"
I don
'
t know why he didn
'
t just kill us, but since we
'
re still alive, he wants to stop us from going to the cops. He was just trying to intimidate you.
"

"
Well, it
'
s working,
"
Dave said darkly, doing his best to act as if the threat to his family were authentic. The performance
wasn
'
t
difficult; while Larry remained on the loose, he indeed represented a threat to everyone close to Dave.
"
I
am
intimidated. He was dead
serious
when he told me, Billy. He said if I wouldn
'
t promise not to go to the police, he
'
d go right to my family and
kill
them before I could even get off this rock.
"

"
I
'
m telling you, it
'
s just scare tactics,
"
insisted Billy.
"
He
'
s got more important things to worry about than pissing around Confluence, waiting to get caught. That
'
s exactly why he
told
you that stuff
--
'
cause he doesn
'
t wanna
'
get
caught
.
If he stays around town, he probably
will
get caught, so you think he
'
ll wanna
'
take the
chance
just to get back at you?
"

"
Yes,
"
nodded Dave.
"
I think he will. I think he meant every word he said.
"

"
He
won
'
t
,
"
argued Billy.
"
Getting back at you is probably the
last
thing on his mind. He just wants to get
away
,
man.
"

"
How do you know
?
"
Dave asked tightly.
"
How do you know
what
he
'
ll do?
"

"
It doesn
'
t take a
genius
to figure it out. The guy
'
s a
killer
.
He
'
s on the
run
.
He
'
ll be too busy
running
to waste time on your
family
.
It just makes
sense
, man.
"

"
I thought you said he
'
s a psycho, so he doesn
'
t
have
to make sense.
"

"
He
'
s a psycho, but he
'
s not
stupid
.
Trust me, man. That bastard won
'
t go anywhere
near
your family.
"

"
Really
?
"
snapped Dave.
"
You
'
re
sure
about that? You
'
re
absolutely
, one
-
hundred
-
percent
sure
about that?
"

Billy hesitated for just a beat. He opened his mouth to respond, but Dave burst back in before he could speak.

"
No
!
"
shouted Dave, glowering with rage and frustration which
weren
'
t
at all simulated.
"
No
, you
can
'
t
be sure! You
think
you know what he
'
ll do, but there
'
s no
way
you can be
sure
!
You thought you knew him
before
, didn
'
t you? You thought he was a nice
guy
, and you couldn
'
t
'
ve
been
more wrong! So what the hell good is
your
opinion?
"

"
Hey
!
"
shot Billy.
"
Cool
it, man! You
'
re too
worked
-
up
!
You
'
re not
thinking
straight.
"

"
Oh, I
'
m thinking
straight
,
all right
!
"
slammed Dave.
"
You
'
re
the one who
'
s all
mixed
-
up!
You think there
'
s some way to
guess
what that maniac
'
s gonna
'
do...but there
isn
'
t
.
You
saw
what he did to that
kid
, Billy. His
brain
doesn
'
t
work
like ours! We
can
'
t
figure out what
'
s going through his head!
"

"
I don
'
t care
how
crazy he is,
"
returned Billy.
"
He
won
'
t
take the chance of getting
caught
just so he can wipe out your
family
!
Think
about it, Dave! He
told
you what he
'
d do if you went to the cops, right? What does that
mean
?
It means you
'
ll be
ready
for him. It means you
'
ll get your family police
protection
,
o
r you
'
ll get every friend you have
--
including me
--
to come over to your house, armed to the
teeth
, just
waiting
for that son of a bitch to pop up! Larry
knew
you
'
d be ready for him to come after your family once you went to the cops! He
knew
he wouldn
'
t be able to get your folks or your brother if he tried...so why would he
tell
you something he couldn
'
t possibly
do
?
Because he wasn
'
t gonna
'
do
it! Because he just wanted to
scare
you enough to make you give him time to
get away
!
"

"
You know what
?
"
said Dave.
"
It
is
possible that he told me what he
'
d do because he
is
going to do it, and because he knows he
can
do it. I wouldn
'
t be surprised if he could get to my family even if they were under twenty
-
four
-
hour
guard
by every cop in the county!
"

"
Aw, geez,
"
clucked Billy, rolling
his eyes and tossing his head.
"
You
'
re being ridiculous, man.
"

"
I
'
m
serious
!
"
lashed Dave.
"
I
'
m starting to think he can do just about
anything
!
Look at the way he
fooled
everybody for so
long
!
He got everybody to think he was this really great
guy
,
and meanwhile, he killed that
kid
and God only
knows
how many others! Nobody suspected a damn
thing
,
and here he turns out to be this psychotic
murderer
!
"