Faustus Resurrectus (28 page)

Whitsett gurgled, collapsed and lay still.

Some noise, warped like an old vinyl record, whispered around them, and suddenly it seemed to get a little darker. A huge cloud formed above Central Park, and from it a white bolt streaked towards the ground. It struck the woman and hurled her backwards, out of McIntyre’s sight.

“Freeze, goddammit, lady!”

Gun trained where she’d disappeared, he looked desperately for a way to staunch the red river flowing from his partner’s throat.

“Jesus, Kev, I—”

Shapes lurched from the bushes, grabbed both cops, and hauled them into the shadows.

The red lights atop the car revolved.

And revolved.

McIntyre burst into the open, panicked eyes searching for escape. His shirt was torn, revealing a bulletproof vest with deep grooves cut into the Kevlar. Blood streamed down his face from a gash that left part of his scalp flapping down. Three flickers of light and shadow pursued, swarming and overwhelming him.

“
No!
”

His radio crackled. “
One-Delta-Eight, what is your status?
”

They dragged him back. He wrenched one arm free and scrabbled at the concrete. The radio remained just out of reach.

“
One-Delta-Eight, this is Central. Do you copy?
”

The red lights revolved as the dark swallowed them all.

“
One-Delta-Eight, One-Delta-Eight. Do you copy?
”

***

Father Carroll and Fullam were already there when Donovan got back to his apartment. That they had gotten Alfredo the building manager to let them in didn’t surprise him; the sergeant seemed to have no qualms about using attitude and authority—even when it had been suspended—to his own ends.

“Donovan!” the priest exclaimed. “Did you find Joann?”

“She
was
there, but not anymore. No one’s there now.”

Fullam looked past Donovan. “Who are you?”

“Uh…Josie. Josie Ludescowicz.” She cringed and leaned into Donovan. “Lude.”

“She was one of Valdes’s people until she had a change of heart.” Donovan gently guided her to the sofa.

Father Carroll knelt beside Lude and looked her in the eye. “You’re safe now, my child. Safe, and among friends.”

Donovan could feel the magic of the priest’s concern. Lude burst into tears and threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry! I din’t mean for none of this to happen!”

Fullam grabbed Donovan’s arm and drew him aside. Donovan could smell the Scotch on him. “What the hell is going on? Hugh suspends me, I’m drowning my shit luck in Johnny Black, and the next thing I know Maurice is behind me at the bar, saying you need me.”

“Valdes was holding Joann at the old Cancer Hospital on Central Park West.”

“You went there?”

“I found this,” he proffered the filthy robe he’d brought back. “This was what she was wearing when they took her. But that isn’t all. I also found a lot of empty beer and liquor bottles, crack vials, and TV sets that were showing violence and porn for who knows how many hours. Apparently Valdes gathered a mob, got them high and whipped them into a killing frenzy.”

“Killing frenzy?”

“In the dining hall there was a guy literally torn apart, stomped flat.” Donovan grimaced. “Now they’re in Central Park, and they still have Joann.”

“Why?”

The thought of trying to explain Mephistopheles and Faustus to the sergeant was too daunting. “…I don’t know.”

The scope of Donovan’s words seemed too much to take in. Fullam exhaled and pulled out his cell phone. “I know one of the desk sergeants at the Central Park Precinct. Craig Wesley. I’m going to see what he’s got.”

Donovan looked at Father Carroll and angled his head to one side. The priest nodded, murmured some soothing words to Lude, got up and joined Donovan by the kitchen steps. “She’s very troubled.”

“I’ll bet she is.” He glanced at Fullam, who was frowning as he waited with the cell to his ear. “Listen, while we were at the Cancer Hospital, something else happened. I couldn’t tell Frank, but it’s…I don’t quite know how to…it’s bad. Something, some kind of darkness, is coming from one of the Cancer Hospital’s towers.”

“Darkness?”

“Darkness, but…more. Definitely not natural. Inside it, I saw white flashes, hundreds of them. I think they were some kind of…entities, or spirits or something. They moved with purpose, heading for Central Park.” He suddenly realized what they must be, and a wave of dread roiled his gut. “If these are the same as the thing that possessed Wissex…” Images from the Blue Moon Bay crime scene photos overwhelmed him.
And that was only one of them.
“This is…bad.”

“Recall Francesca-Maria Guazzo, in the
Compendium Maleficarum
, offers six categories to classify diabolic entities.”

Donovan thought for a moment.
What are the six? Fiery, aerial, terrestrial, aqueous, subterranean and heliophobic.
“These came in darkness; they have to be heliophobic.”

“‘The sixth is the heliophobic,’” Father Carroll recited, “‘because they especially hate and detest the light, and never appear during the daytime, nor can they assume a bodily form until the night. These devils are completely inscrutable and of a character beyond human comprehension, because they are all dark within, shaken with icy passions, malicious, restless and perturbed.’ Guazzo’s description is disturbing, but it seems to confirm your earlier suspicion that Valdes is taking the next step along Faustus’s path to power. Who would such entities serve?”

“Mephistopheles, ‘chief lord and regent of perpetual night.’”

“Precisely. The name ‘Mephistopheles’ is from the Greek, ‘he who loves not the light,’ which also describes his relationship with his master Lucifer Morningstar, the Angel of Light. Mephistopheles, one of the seven great princes of Hell, has always chafed in the role of ‘prince, but servant to Lucifer,’ as Marlowe wrote, yet he serves as the conduit to Lucifer’s power.”

Donovan heard hesitation in his voice. “Something, Father?”

Before the priest could answer, Fullam came over. “It looks like you’re right about something going on in the park. I can’t raise Wes, or anyone, at the precinct. How long has something been going on, did you say?”

“I met Josie at Polaris about an hour ago. She told me Valdes has had his followers bringing in people all day, up to the Cancer Hospital. We went up to check it out. I found Joann’s robe but the place was empty except for what I told you. We came right back here.” The sergeant was still a little muddled by his drinking, and seemed to have trouble following him. Donovan felt his temper start to rise, and he tightened his grip on it. “If you need someone to check it out, Yarborough has a car watching me. Send them.”

Fullam frowned. “What?”

“Dark blue SUV outside. Been following me ever since your boss bounced me from the investigation. I figured it was his way of keeping tabs.”

“Why would he do that? He’s already won. He doesn’t need to know what you’re doing and frankly, I don’t think he cares.” Fullam’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not Valdes?”

“Doubt it. Too clean and professional.”

“Then forget it for now. Why can’t I get anyone at the Central Park Precinct?”

“Is that unusual?” Father Carroll asked.

“There’s
always
someone to answer the phone except, apparently,” Fullam looked at Donovan, “now.”

A siren passed by outside, making Donovan wonder if things were already spreading beyond the park’s borders. “I’m going to get Joann,” he said. “My best chance to save her includes the NYPD getting involved.
I
can’t do that, not initially, at least.”

Fullam considered the options. “Conference call. Valdes was my case—still is, as far as I’m concerned. If he’s doing something in Central Park, it’s only right that I let the captains of the surrounding precincts in on it.”

Donovan looked at the priest. “Father?”

“Actually,” Father Carroll shook his head, “with your permission, Francis, I’d like to take Miss Ludescowicz to a safe place until all of this is over. I’m certain she has given us all the information she can, and I think it would be in everyone’s best interests if she was out of harm’s way.”

The sergeant glanced over at her. Lude sat huddled on the couch, looking scared and alone. “She’s a material witness to more things than I can list, Maurice. At this point, my
only
material witness.”

“I understand that. However, she is doing no one any good here now. I can bring her to a shelter and be back in under an hour.”

“Why do you need to come back?” Donovan and Father Carroll looked at each other. Fullam regarded them both, annoyed but resigned. “Fine. Go.”

“Come, my dear,” Father Carroll beckoned her. She bounced to her feet and scurried over. “I’m taking you to a friend of mine, away from the danger.”

“Sister Mary Faith?” Donovan asked, walking them to the door.

Father Carroll nodded. “Let me know what comes out of this. I’m going to bring Josie to the shelter and stop by my apartment. I may have some things that will help.” He clasped Donovan’s hand. “God bless. I’ll be back soon.”

“Good luck. And hurry.”

TWENTY

WELCOME TO THE SLAUGHTER

F
ullam was in Donovan’s office. Although there was a chair behind the desk, he chose to stand while the conference call was coming together. “Six precincts around the park,” he said, sketching a rough drawing on a piece of paper. “West is the Two-Oh and the Two-Four; east is the One-Nine and the Two-Three; north is the Two-Six and the Two-Eight.”

“What about south?”

“Midtown North covers the whole length of Central Park South. I don’t know all the captains personally, but Susan—Susan Uzaki, our switchboard operator—gave me their names and says she can get them all together.”

“Susan won’t tell Yarborough?”

“Susan and I go way back. She’ll give me a little head start.” Fullam’s mouth curled in a half-smile. “Apparently there’s already been some talk about a situation—the Two-Four and the Two-Oh have been getting calls for the past half hour about a brownout and just generally weird feelings.”

“
Everyone’s on the line, Frank,
” came a female voice from the speaker. “
Good luck.
”

“Gentlemen—I’m sure some of you already know, but for those who don’t, we have a situation in Central Park.” The captains all began to speak at once, firing questions and concerns. Fullam waited for a second before continuing. “The leader of the situation is a case of mine. Let me tell you what I know and we’ll go from there:

“Neil Valdes, recently paroled from federal custody, has gathered and organized a mob of approximately two to three hundred individuals from the homeless population of the city. Using the old Cancer Hospital on 106
^th
and Central Park West as a base, he fed them alcohol and drugs, armed them, and led them into the park for unknown purposes. He has an unknown number of hostages, including Joann Clery from the Brooklyn DA’s office, whom he and another of his people kidnapped. I’ve tried to get hold of Craig Wesley, but there’s no answer from anyone at Central Park Precinct.”

“
This is Roy Matz from the Two-Four.
” Matz had a slow, syrupy drawl. “
I sent a car and a couple of my men to check out some disturbances at the 86
^th
street transverse. They reported something about a possible sexual assault victim, but I haven’t heard from them since. What do you know, sergeant?
”

Fullam looked to Donovan, who shrugged. “Less than you, I’m afraid. My source doesn’t know anything about that.”

“
This is Jim Seifert. What source are you talking about, Frank? Do you have somebody inside Valdes’s mob?
”

“I have someone who was at the Cancer Hospital very recently.”

“
Ed Devine from the Two-Six. Who is this Valdes? What does he want?
”

“Valdes was a white-collar criminal who moved into the major leagues. Since March he’s been on a killing spree all over the city, working some kind of occult ritual that seems to be coming to a head now.”

“
Occult ritual?
”

Fullam frowned. “Who’s this?”

“
Rich Darenelli from the Two-Three. Craig Wesley is a good friend of mine. I just talked to him a couple of hours ago. There was some kind of rock concert in the park tonight, but he didn’t say anything about any rituals.
”

“Valdes’s entire purpose since he was paroled has been this ritual—”

Darenelli interrupted. “
I’m calling him.
”

“I haven’t been able to get any answer—”

“
Well now, you know, Frank?
” Roy Matz threw in. “
I surely would like to know a little more about this, and what happened to my men, before I go charging off.
”

“
I’ve got his private number,
” Darenelli added.

On the first ring the receiver was picked up and dropped on a hard surface. The connection stayed open. No one spoke, but they heard a mushy chopping, and an occasional sharp crack.

Darenelli cleared his throat. “
Uh, Wes? You there?
”

The chopping paused.

“…
Wes?
”

A faint, barely audible whimpering.

The chopping resumed.

Something severed the connection. For a moment no one spoke.

“
Have any of y’all ever worked in a slaughterhouse?
” Matz finally asked. “
Because I have, and unless I’m wrong, we just heard a carcass being butchered. ’Cept that one sounded…still alive.
”

Everyone shouted. Fullam leaned forward. “Hey,
hey!
Gentlemen!” Beneath his professional façade Donovan could see he was clearly shaken. “We don’t want this to get away from us. If there are no objections, I think we should mobilize ESU and EMS, gather in Columbus Circle to establish a command post.

“Whatever we just heard, it is extremely possible it wasn’t an isolated incident.”

***

While Fullam made initial arrangements with the other captains, Donovan changed out of his “bum” clothes and into black jeans, a long-sleeved black t-shirt, boots, and gloves. As he picked up his leather jacket, he considered the Glock Fullam had given him.