Backtracker (77 page)

"
You
were onto him,
"
reminded Billy.
"
You
thought there was something weird about him from the beginning.
"

"
I didn
'
t think he was a murderer!
"

"
Yeah, but you knew
something
wasn
'
t right about him. If he
'
s so swift, if he can do
anything
, then why couldn
'
t he pull the wool over
your
eyes, too?
"

"
But he
did
!
"
barked Dave.
"
I thought he was psychic!
"

"
Psychic, psychotic, what
'
s the difference? The point is, he
can
'
t
do
everything
!
Assuming he
does
want to kill your family, that doesn
'
t mean he
can
.
Once he finds out the cops are after him, how in
hell
is he gonna
'
get
to your family? The only way he
'
ll
know
you went to the cops will be when he sees them
chasing
him. By then, he
'
ll be as good as
caught
.
"

"
And maybe he
won
'
t
get caught,
"
flared Dave.

"
If he gets away from them, you really think he
'
ll go right to your
house
, where he
'
ll know the cops
'
ll be
waiting
for him? Of course not!
"

"
You don
'
t
know
that
!
"
hurled Dave.
"
You
don
'
t know what he
'
ll do, and neither do
I
!
Maybe he
won
'
t
try to get my family, or maybe he won
'
t be
able
to...but we can
'
t know for
sure
!
We can
'
t
predict
it, so there
'
s still a chance he
'
ll do what he
said
he would!
"

"
Not
much
of a chance,
"
grumbled Billy.

"
There
'
s still a chance...and as long as there
'
s a
chance
that my going to the cops will lead to my family getting
killed
,
I
'
m not gonna
'
risk
it!
"

"
Fine,
"
shrugged Billy.
"
Then
I
'
ll
go to the cops. He didn
'
t say he
'
d do anything to
my
family, and anyway, they don
'
t even live in town.
I
'
ll
do the dirty work, and you won
'
t have to worry.
"

"
He won
'
t know it wasn
'
t
me
,
though,
"
countered Dave.
"
If he sees the cops coming, he
'
ll have no way of knowing that
I
didn
'
t send them.
"

Billy snorted and shook his head.
"
You
'
re freaked
-
out,
"
he said sardonically.
"
Larry
'
s got you so spooked, you don
'
t know what the hell you
'
re talking about.
"

"
That
'
s easy for
you
to say,
"
fired Dave, jabbing a finger at his partner.
"
I bet you wouldn
'
t be so
laid
-
back
if it was
your
family that Larry said he
'
d kill!
"

"
I
'
m not
being
laid
-
back,
"
Billy insisted resentfully.
"
It
'
s just that there are certain things we
'
ve gotta
'
do
,
and I
'
m trying to keep cool enough to
do
them. Letting Larry
'
s
scare
tactics
get to us isn
'
t gonna
'
do any good. The only thing that
'
ll do us any
good
is going to the cops!
"

"
But we
can
'
t
!
"
whipped Dave.
"
We can
'
t take the chance!
"

"
So what else do you suggest we do? Just let him get away with the shit he
'
s done? Just let him go some place else and hack up some more people?
"

"
No
!
"
said Dave.

"
But you won
'
t go to the
cops
, right? So what the
hell
do you suggest we do?
"

Dave drew a deep breath and slowly released it. On the verge of spilling his proposal, he felt a sudden loss of momentum; the idea had seemed crazy all along, but it seemed even more preposterous when he was about to mention it aloud.

He swallowed, licked his lips. His mouth felt so dry, he
didn
'
t
know if he would be able to speak.

Yet again, he reconsidered, thought about abandoning the whole plan. It
wouldn
'
t
take much, would require hardly any effort at all; he could simply give in, admit that Billy was in the right, agree that the cops should be contacted. Billy would accept the change of heart readily, express his satisfaction that Dave had come to his senses...and that would be that. There would be no further lies or games or trouble; Larry would be apprehended, lives would be saved, and Dave could finally relax, indulge himself in the rest that he deserved.

He wanted rest; he wanted peace of mind. He
didn
'
t
want to argue with Billy anymore.

He opened his mouth to tell Billy that they ought to go to the police, to say that he
didn
'
t
know
what
he'd
been thinking but Billy was right.

"
I think we should take care of this ourselves,
"
he heard himself say instead.

He wanted to say
'
The hell with it. Let
'
s go to the cops. I
'
m sick of this whole deal.
'

"
I think we should go after Larry on our own,
"
he said instead.

Protect Billy; stop Larry.

It was all up to him.

"
No cops,
"
he said gravely.
"
Just us.
"

*****

Chapter
33

Billy Bristol
'
s jaw dropped as if a lead weight had been hooked to it. For a long moment, he said nothing, just stared at Dave with the most stunned, boggled look on his face.

Dave
didn
'
t
break the silence; he knew that the storm would come soon enough, and he saw no reason to hasten its arrival. He needed a breather anyway, a chance to collect himself, muster his resources for the struggle ahead. With a blank stare concealing his anxiety, he waited and watched Billy, wondering what to say next.

Billy finally snorted and shook his head; his shocked expression turned to one of snide disdain.
"
Right,
"
he said sarcastically.
"
Sure, Dave. That
'
s a
good
idea.
"

"
I
'
m serious,
"
Dave said coolly.

"
Oh, I just
bet
you are,
"
needled Billy.
"
I
'
m
serious, too. I think that
'
s a
great
idea, man
--
best one you
'
ve had all
day
.
Who
needs
the cops, right? You and I can take care of Larry all by our lonesome. Sure...
we
can cut that psychopathic killer down to size. We
'
ll eat him for breakfast.
"

"
There
'
s no other way,
"
said Dave.
"
We can
'
t go to the police. I can
'
t take the chance that he
'
ll get to my parents.
"

"
Of course not,
"
sniped Billy, frowning with mock gravity.
"
We
can
'
t
go to the
cops
.
What good would
they
be, anyway?
"

"
We can get the cops if we need them,
"
said Dave.

"
Which we probably
won
'
t
,
"
foisted Billy.
"
I mean, Larry
'
ll probably be so
scared
that he
'
ll break down in tears and surrender the minute he
sees
us.
"

"
We
'
ll find him,
"
continued Dave.
"
We
'
ll try to talk him out of what he
'
s doing.
"

"
Oh, I
'
m
sure
he
'
ll listen to
us
,
"
piped Billy.
"
He
'
ll just say
'
Okay, guys. You
'
re right. No more murders for me.
'"

"
If he won
'
t listen,
"
Dave said calmly,
"
we
'
ll send the cops after him. If he tries anything, we
'
ll get away from him and go straight to the cops.
"

"
Right,
"
nodded Billy.
"
It oughtta
'
be easy to get away from him.
"

"
I
'
m not sure exactly where he went,
"
continued Dave.

"
Oh, well that
'
ll just make it all the
easier
,
"
sneered Billy.

"
He mentioned that he was going out of town. He said there was one more guy
he had
to kill, and the guy lives out of town.
"

"
Out of town. Well,
that
sure narrows it down.
"

"
I do have a clue, though,
"
said Dave, straining to keep an even keel while Billy fired quips.
"
Between the two of us, I think we can figure out how to find Larry.
"

"
Definitely,
"
nodded Billy.
"
We
'
ll be just like
detectives
, man. We
'
ll figure out the clue, track down the bad guy, and teach him a lesson he
'
ll never forget, right?
"

Dave sighed and shook his head. As
he'd
expected, Billy
wasn
'
t
taking him seriously; Dave had to admit that if
he
were the one being presented the wild scheme, he probably
wouldn
'
t
have taken it seriously himself.

Turning away from his partner, Dave took a few paces over the stone, wrung his brain for something that he could say to secure Billy
'
s allegiance. Nothing came to him; as hard as he tried, he
couldn
'
t
cobble together a chain of logic which might pull Billy into the risky action.

"
Look,
"
he said, turning to again face his friend.
"
I
know
it sounds stupid, okay? I
know
we should just get the cops...but I can
'
t take the chance that Larry might hurt my family.
"

Billy laughed.
"
Dave
!
"
he pitched, wagging his head.
"
I can
'
t believe you
'
re even
thinking up
this shit! You
'
ve gotta
'
be outta
'
your freakin
'
mind
, man!
"

"
I
'
m not,
"
Dave replied firmly.
"
I know
exactly
what I
'
m talking about. Larry threatened to kill my
family
, and I won
'
t give him an excuse to
do
it.
"

"
So you want us to stop him
ourselves
?
"
chuckled Billy.
"
You really think
we
can do anything to
get
this guy?
"

"
I don
'
t know,
"
said Dave.
"
I want to
try
, though.
"

"
Try to get us
killed
, you mean,
"
retorted Billy.

"
I don
'
t think that
'
ll happen,
"
said Dave.
"
I really don
'
t think Larry wants to kill us. I mean,
he had
the
chance
to, didn
'
t he? He could
'
ve
easily
killed us, but he let us off with a couple bruises. I don
'
t know what the reason is, but he must not want to kill us
too
bad.
"

"
Dave, I gotta
'
tell you,
"
smirked Billy.
"
I, for one, do
not
want to find out how bad Larry wants to kill us. I do
not
want to give that maniac another chance to finish us off.
"

"
We
won
'
t
do anything
stupid
, okay? We
'
ll make sure we
'
re
ready
for him, and we
'
ll get
away
from him at the first sign of trouble.
"

"
I
don
'
t wanna
'
go anywhere
near
him in the
first
place
!
"
slung Billy.
"
I
wanna
'
stay as far away from him as I possibly
can
!
"

"
So do I
!
"
hollered Dave, tossing his hands in the air.
"
You think
I
want to g
o near him again? Hell, no!
He
'
s got me scared
shitless
, Billy! I
'
d be perfectly happy if I never had to see him again in my
life
!
"

"
So don
'
t
!
"
shot Billy.
"
If you
'
re so scared of him, then let
'
s just stay away from him! It
'
s as simple as that!
"

"
But it
isn
'
t
!
I
have
to see him! I
have
to try to
stop
him!
"

"
So let
'
s call the cops!
"

"
I
can
'
t
!
He said he
'
d kill my family! Maybe
you
don
'
t care what happens to them, but
I
do!
"

"
Oh, brother,
"
Billy rolled derisively.
"
Like I don
'
t care about your family. Right, Dave. Whatever you say, man.
"

"
Well, you
'
re sure not
acting
like you care
!
"
hurled Dave.

"
You know what
'
d be best for your family right now? Getting that
lunatic
off the street!
"
Billy
'
s voice was charged with anger; he was fully engaged in the battle of wills, was no longer trying to quash Dave
'
s intentions through ridicule and sarcasm.
"
That
'
s
the only way to keep them
safe
, man! The sooner that son of a bitch is
locked up
,
the sooner your family
'
s in the clear...and
believe
me, the
cops
are the only ones who
'
re gonna
'
be able to
nail
that bastard!
"

"
And maybe they
won
'
t
be able to,
"
snapped Dave,
"
and maybe he
will
kill my family, and
then
what
'
re you going to say?
'
Gee, I
'
m
sorry
your mom and dad and brother got
killed
,
Dave
'
?
"