Backtracker (88 page)

"
Come on
!
"
shouted Billy.
"
Tell me!
"

"
I didn
'
t...want you to go,
"
Dave mumbled defeatedly.

"
What
'
re you
talking
about?
"

"
I didn
'
t want you to go with me to Kline,
"
continued Dave.
"
Because of Larry. I wanted to go alone.
"

"
I don
'
t get it
!
"
shot Billy.
"
You practically dragged me along to
begin
with
!
You
talked me
into
it...and now you
'
re trying to tell me you didn
'
t
want
me to go?
"

"
I didn
'
t want you to call the cops,
"
said Dave.
"
That
'
s the only reason I got you to come with me. I knew you
'
d call them right away if I went without you.
"

"
We
should
'
ve
called them right away
!
"
declared Billy.
"
It would
'
ve saved us all this
bullshit
!
"

"
I figured I
'
d just ditch you on the way somehow,
"
mumbled Dave.
"
Then, even if you got to a phone and called the cops, I
'
d still be able to get to Larry first, so it wouldn
'
t matter.
"

"
So you tried beatin
'
the
shit
outta
'
me, huh
?
"
Billy fired sarcastically.
"
Thanks a lot,
man!
"

"
I didn
'
t want you to get hurt,
"
said Dave.
"
I didn
'
t want Larry to kill both of us if things went wrong.
"

"
Well, geez
!
"
sniped Billy.
"
You sure did a good
job
of making sure I don
'
t get hurt!
"

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
said Dave.
"
I couldn
'
t think of any other way to ditch you. We were getting so close to Kline, and I just had to do something. I couldn
'
t just tell you to pull the car over and get out.
"

"
So you were gonna
'
punch my lights out and leave me laying in the woods, huh? Just
leave
me here and drive away?
"

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
Dave said softly.
"
I really thought you
'
d be okay. I thought you
'
d wake up before too long and hitch a ride home.
"

"
Shit,
"
Billy said disgustedly.
"
You know what? You
'
re outta
'
your damn
mind
, man.
"

"
I just don
'
t want you to get hurt,
"
said Dave.
"
It
'
s not fair for me to pull you into this. If Larry would do something to you, it
'
d be my fault.
"

"
You
'
re crazy,
"
Billy said contemptuously. With a sigh, he let go of Dave
'
s arm and removed his weight from Dave
'
s back, got to his feet.
"
This whole thing has just made you crazy. You
'
re gonna
'
end up as crazy as Larry is.
"

Dave
couldn
'
t
help but wonder if Billy was right.
"
I
'
m sorry,
"
he said weakly.
"
I was just worried about you.
"

"
Yeah, whatever,
"
grunted Billy, striding a few steps from his partner, then turning to stare at him.
"
Y
'
know, I oughtta
'
just leave you here,
"
he said pensively, folding his arms over his chest.

"
If that
'
s what you want to do,
"
Dave said as he rolled over and sat up.

"
What would you do if I left you here
?
"
asked Billy.

Dave thought for a moment.
"
I guess I
'
d walk to Kline,
"
he said at last.
"
I wouldn
'
t mind. At least you
'
d be out of it.
"

Billy snorted.
"
That
'
s what I thought,
"
he said derisively.
"
It
'
d probably take you twenty minutes to get there, you know. By then, Larry
'
d be gone...if he isn
'
t
already
gone, which he probably
is
.
"

"
Whatever,
"
shrugged Dave.

Billy shook his head.
"
Well, let
'
s get a move on, then,
"
he sighed.

"
What do you mean
?
"
Dave asked flatly.

"
Come on,
"
Billy said with mock courtesy, sweeping his left arm wide in an exaggerated summons.
"
Let
'
s go, man. Let
'
s get to Kline and see if that son of a bitch is still around.
"

"
I don
'
t want you to go,
"
said Dave.

"
Tough shit,
"
smirked Billy.
"
I
'
m in this now. Before, I didn
'
t want me to go either, but now, I am definitely
in
this.
"

For a moment, Dave sat silently on the ground, frowning at his partner. He
didn
'
t
want Billy to accompany him, put himself in jeopardy; it was clear, however, that Billy
'
s stubborn streak had been fully activated, a streak which Dave knew from experience to be a formidable force.

Dave thought that he would prefer if Billy would just leave him there; unfortunately, he
didn
'
t
believe that he could convince Billy to do it, not now, with animosities so evident in the wake of the failed ambush. In addition, Dave doubted that he could really
afford
to have Billy depart; as Billy had said, if he took the car, and Dave had to walk to Kline, he would lose too much time, would probably fail to reach Larry before he could escape (if he
wasn
'
t
already on the run, of course).

Slowly, Dave rose from the dirt, locked eyes with Billy.
"
Okay,
"
he nodded.
"
Okay, let
'
s go then.
"

"
After you,
"
smirked Billy, waving graciously.
"
Ladies before gentlemen.
"

Slouched and frowning, Dave sighed and moved past his partner toward the car. Billy followed at a safe distance, hanging back a few feet in case Dave again tried to attack.

In fact, Dave did consider another assault, a last
-
ditch attempt to subdue his partner. As he marched to the fringe of the woods, he thought about whipping around and lunging, attacking so viciously that Billy might not be able to fend him off...but then, he decided that he
wouldn
'
t
have a chance. If
he'd
failed with the element of surprise on his side, how could he hope to win now that Billy was expecting an attack?

Later; he would have to try again later, when Billy
wasn
'
t
watching him so closely. It
wouldn
'
t
be easy, but he would try again later. He
wouldn
'
t
let Billy face Larry.

As he opened the door of the Camaro and slumped into his seat, Dave promised himself: he
wouldn
'
t
let Billy face Larry.

"
Let
'
s go get that son of a bitch,
"
growled Billy Bristol as the engine roared to life.

*****

Chapter
41

The man of the house never knew what hit him.

In a smooth, soundless motion, the Miraclemaker tugged the door back and sprang from his hiding place. The man was in easy reach, just three feet away; a loaded grocery bag nested in each arm, and he was staring into the kitchen.

Before the man could cry out or attempt to defend himself, the Miraclemaker had grabbed his skull and violently wrenched it around, instantly snapping his neck. As the groceries tumbled to the floor, the Miraclemaker jerked the guy to the wall and heaved his skull against it; the cranial bone cracked dully, and the Miraclemaker bashed it again, then a third time. After the fourth and most powerful impact, the Miraclemaker released the shattered head.

Limp and lifeless, the husband dropped to the green shag carpet. His eyes were stuck wide open with the surprise of the moment of his death; dark blood blotted his long, blonde hair, oozed down his gaunt face and into his pale beard. One of his scrawny arms was buried beneath him, while the other lay flaccid across his insubstantial chest.

The woman was still hollering in the kitchen. She
hadn
'
t
heard the disturbance in the living room over her own tirade and the infant
'
s shrieking.

The Miraclemaker was on a roll; one of the parents was dead, and the other
wasn
'
t
aware of his presence. He
couldn
'
t
possibly have gotten off to a better start...and, best of all, his spirits were high, his old excitement restored. As he crept around the husband
'
s corpse and moved toward the kitchen doorway, he felt bold and empowered, magnificently sensitized and activated; his heart was pounding and his mind was perfectly clear, cold and focused like a thin beam of light, like the constant golden line.

"
Hey, Mike
!
"
yowled the woman in the kitchen.
"
Come in here! Just
look
at this mess!
"

The Miraclemaker continued to creep forward, taking care to avoid the debris on the living room floor. With the husband dead and the woman trapped, he
didn
'
t
really need to employ such stealth; he could have just charged right in, making all the noise in the world...but he loved the hunt, relished the anticipation of the miracle. As he secretly stalked the victims, he felt primitive and predatory, transcendent and electrified, sparking with power and purpose denied to mere mortals.

The woman was still yelling.
"
Mike
!
"
she bellowed authoritatively.
"
I said get in here!
"

Sneering, the Miraclemaker took another step toward the doorway. Though the woman
wasn
'
t
the chosen one, though she
hadn
'
t
been a direct instrument of his downfall, the Miraclemaker realized that he would take great pleasure in extinguishing her megaphonic roar.

"
Hey, Mike
!
"
thundered the woman.
"
Mike!
"
Her voice reached its loudest level yet, as did the baby
'
s crying.

Tensing for the imminent attack, the Miraclemaker slipped to one side of the doorway. He leaned against the wall there, just out of what would be the woman
'
s line of sight when she finally peered out of the kitchen.

"
Damnit, Mike
!
"
she blasted angrily.
"
What the hell
'
re you
doing
, you dumb son of a bitch?
"

The Miraclemaker heard her feet smacking the linoleum in quick succession, getting closer. She must have kicked at some of the rubble, for there was the sound of plastic or glass skittering over the floor.

When next she hollered, her voice came from just beyond the doorway; so did the infant
'
s shrill cries.
"
Hey,
dipshit
!
"
gusted the woman, as angry as ever...and then she paused.
"
Mike
?
"
she called, her voice still full of exasperation.

Blood rushing, eyes twinkling, mind focused, the Miraclemaker waited. He found it difficult to hold himself back, but he waited for just the right moment.

"
Mike
?
"
called the woman, and she sighed disgustedly.
"
So help me, if you went to Jack
'
s and
left
me with this
shit
to clean up on my own...I
'
ll rip your
balls
off!
"

The Miraclemaker wanted to laugh. The woman still had no idea of what had happened, or what was about to happen; her death waited just a few feet away, the corpse of her husband lay a few yards away...but she
couldn
'
t
see either of them. Ignorant of the noose which was tightening around her, she went on blustering and nagging, threatening the husband who was now more dead than deadbeat.

"
God
!
"
blew the woman.
"
You
'
re such an
asshole
, Mike!
"
With that, she took a step forward, then another.

The Miraclemaker prepared to lunge; the flame in his heart surged, leaped spectacularly as a gusher of oil set ablaze.

"
Hey, asshole
!
"
shouted the woman as she marched over the threshold and into the living room.

The Miraclemaker drew a breath.

The woman
'
s head whipped around, and she saw him.

Half
-
sneering, half
-
snarling, he moved.