Out Of The Dark (8 page)

Rhonda looked at me. "Would Nona go somewhere
with Mrs. Shultz to investigate Dr. Bonville? Like is there some
secret archive of knowledge that you would know about?"

I shrugged and finally wrenched my hands free
of the handle. Giving a silent grunt, I reached down between my
legs and retrieved her phone as well as my board. Erase. Scribble.
Hrm--scribble more. HEY WHY I KNOW? U 2 DOING THE OOGIE ON THE
SIDE. NOT TELL ME.

She pursed her lips as she read the board by
glancing back at it several times.

"Can she not do that?" Dags called from the
back. "I'd prefer she keep her eyes on the road."

Touché.

Rhonda sighed. It was a tired sigh, and
sounded like it had been filled with high emotion. She was wound
tight, and about to pop. "Look, I'm sorry. I just--when I saw the
documents and the names on them--" she shook her head. "I think
they're contracts. And with contracts always comes trouble."

I nodded and thought of the Archer. All the
trouble with him began with a contract. Once between the Phantasm
and the Reverend Rollins.

Rhonda kept talking. "We just needed to get
as far away from there as possible. Oh, and Dags, I need you to
call in sick tonight."

"Call in sick? I've never called in
sick."

"Then make this a first. Otherwise I doubt
you'll ever make it home alive."

I heard him gulp. I stared at Rhonda. What
the hell was going on?

I suggested we stop by the hospital first. I
wanted to see Daniel. Rhonda agreed and we arrived in one piece at
Northside Hospital twenty-minutes later. Dags had gone very quiet
as Rhonda parked and the three of us took the elevator up.

Tiarra was on duty when we stepped out of the
elevator. She took one look at Dags and then one look at me and
arched her left eyebrow up high. I gave her a
don't ask
shake of the head and she gave me a
you're kidding
look
beneath her eyebrows. Then she gave me a
awrigh' den
sigh.
"Lieutenant Holmes is in there with him. He's such a nice man."

I stopped in my tracks. Who? I thought
Captain Cooper was staying with him. So--who was this? I pushed
open the door and then stopped. There was a small short wall where
the bathroom was that prevented anyone near Daniel's bed from
seeing who entered the room. I heard the familiar whirl of the
breathing machine first, and then the television just before a deep
voice laughed. I paused, took in a deep breath and stopped in my
tracks as the voice spoke.

"Yeah, it's not the greatest job--but I'm so
close to retiring, Danny. I've got a good pension. Trevor's still
in Japan--not sure he's ever going to come home. He loves it too
much. I just--I just want peace and quiet for a while. I know I
didn't tell you last time I was here, but Phyllis passed away.
Breast cancer. It was so hard--and in the end it was even harder
for me because I was almost relieved when she died. She was in so
much pain," he sniffed. I felt like an asshole, intruding like
this. There was something very right about the way he
spoke--comforting. Languid vowels. "Am I wrong to feel like that?
To feel glad she died?"

I wanted to tell him no--it wasn't wrong. For
me it wasn't, but then I didn't suppose I was built of the best
moral fiber. After all--I wasn't exactly sure what I was
anymore.

But it was also time for me to stop snooping.
I opened the door again making more noise and then barreled
forward.

Charlie Holmes wasn't what I expected.

I sort of expected an overweight man in a
beat cop uniform. Something very stereo-typical. Complete with
several chins and a balding head. But the man that stood up from
the chair I usually sat in wasn't anything like that. He was past
sixty--that much I was certain of. Though his skin was remarkably
unwrinkled. Oh there were laugh lines around his eyes, which were
kind and dark brown. His hair was salt and pepper, with more salt
than pepper, and he was as tall as I am. He was dressed in a
regular suit--nothing fancy out of Sears--and he gave me a genuine
smile when he looked at me.

He offered me his right hand. "Lieutenant
Charles Daniel Holmes." He winked. "Most friends call me Danny, but
I think in this case you should call me Charlie. Less confusing
that way. And you must be the new distraction in his life. It's
very nice to meet you."

I took his hand, hesitating just a tad.
Lately me touching solid human hands with my own wasn't a good
idea.

And it wasn't.

The skull was there. The sign this man--this
very sweet man--was going to die.

Damn it.

<><><>

"Captain Cooper called me, said he was being
called in. Wanted me to come sit with Danny-boy here," he gestured
to my boyfriend. "To tell you the truth, I didn't know this had
happened. Oh, I'd heard about the incident down at the
warehouse--but I never thought my Danny would be involved."

My Danny
. I realized these two had a
history--and in the short time I'd known Daniel he'd never
mentioned a man named Charlie Holmes. And in a way I was relived at
not having to tell Daniel I knew his friend was doomed to die. The
skull never gave me a time and a place--it was more of a marker
that the death would be soon.

Once Dags and Rhonda came in Charlie did his
introduction again. He smiled at Rhonda, though I could see in his
expression he wasn't quite sure what to make of her black hair,
lips, eyes and nails. And then he looked at Dags--and here he
really looked confused.

Rhonda spoke up as she reached in her
backpack and pulled out a pen and paper to hand to me. "Dags here
is helping us on a--" she hesitated. "A project."

"Project?" Charlie shook Dags' hand but kept
his expression wary. "I thought Danny here said you were a bunch of
amateur detectives?"

Amateur detectives? Shit...that made us sound
like the Scooby Gang.

Well--I guess in Daniel's eyes we were
amateur. Pooh on him though for discussing us with someone we
didn't know.

Rhonda was the one to answer. "You could say
that."

Charlie seemed satisfied. "Sorry to surprise
you like this--but I would do anything for the captain. He's a good
man."

"So what's your association with Detective
Frasier?" Dags asked in a very professional voice.

"I was Danny's mentor--sort of his sponsor
when he joined the force. I was his first partner," he chuckled.
"And the only one to survive."

Yeah, I remembered Daniel talking about his
partner past. Not exceptionally good.

"We worked downtown for several years before
he decided to go for detective. He wanted more out of the job--and
he wanted a bigger salary. He was seeing that news reporter at the
time and I think she was having problems dating just a cop. She
wanted something with a higher profile."

Dating what news reporter? I looked at Dags
and Rhonda, but it didn't look as if they were gonna ask that
question, and I was busy holding hands with my man.

"So he made detective, and we sort of lost
touch. He had that problem a year ago--with the one partner that
got shot--and then Cooper called about this," he looked over at
Daniel. "I must say, I never expected him to end up in the
hospital. Though Cooper did tell me the doctor said he would regain
full use of his leg again. Not sure if he'll be running after any
skels for a while, but knowing Danny, he'll give it a try."

I pursed my lips. I had no idea what this man
was talking about. What the hell was a skel? And did you spell that
with a C or with one or two Ls? See when you write out your
sentences, those things become kinda important.

Dags said, "Are you retired?"

"Almost. Got a part-time job working several
warehouses. Night watchman mostly. Very quiet and I think I can do
that for a while. I wanted to get together with Daniel and tell
him."

"You have any kids?" Rhonda asked. She looked
impatient.

"One. He was adopted. Trevor. He's in Japan,
learning Japanese. Been there for several years. I'd wanted him to
come home after my wife--his mother--died. But," he shrugged. "He's
happy. And I can't deny him that."

I looked at Daniel. Did his eyes flutter?
Would he be mad if I propped them open so I could see them?

"Zoë. We need to get back to the shop."
Rhonda and Dags left the room.

I lingered a moment, looking at Daniel. I
really didn't want to leave, but I was also wondering about what
had happened in that loft. I was sure the second Shadow Person
wasn't like the first two that tried to throw Dags and Rhonda down
the stairs. But I didn't know why I thought that. They all looked
the same--just shadowy little people. So--why the difference? Why
were the first two mean and that third one helpful?

And how on earth could anyone think theses
things were Brownies?

"Zoë."

I looked at Charlie. He had his hands in his
pockets and was looking at me with a strange intensity. "You go. Do
what ever it is you do, okay? I'll be here with Danny. I promise.
And if something happens, you'll know in here," and he put his hand
over his heart.

With a nod I leaned down and gave Daniel a
kiss on his cheek and left the room.

"I like him," Rhonda said in the elevator on
the way down. She was looking at me.

I nodded. I could sense he was a good man--I
just--I just wanted to stay here. I gave her a half smile and the
door opened into the lobby.

It looked like any other lobby with its
marble and tile flooring--one half old one half new. The industrial
Berber carpet and the window covered atrium. The registration and
admittance desk was to the right as we moved to the front.

And then it hit me--an overwhelming need to
curl up in a corner. I--I had never experienced anything like this
before. It was like every fear I had, every inadequate thought
about myself, every random thing anyone had ever said to me and
hurt me came flooding back into my memory.

I put my hands to my head and stopped.

"Zoë? Dags? What's wrong?"

I had to get a hold of myself--cause all I
wanted to do was cry. I realized I was shaking, my head down. Oh
dear lord you're in a hospital with a track record. Get out before
they put you in a bed!

"What the hell…is that?" came Dags'
voice.

I did manage to move away from the center of
the atrium, a few steps as Rhonda pulled on my arm. But I looked up
to see Dags standing in the center, his right hand to his head, his
eyes closed. He looked like he was going to fall over.

Literally.

The feeling intensified as I felt winter air
come through the front sliding doors. And another feeling came to
me--this one stronger. A culmination of familiarity, of force and
of power. But this wasn't like the power I experienced when I took
that lady in the hospital--this was a ghost of
something--sinister.

Of something almost primitive in its subdued
rage.

Everything around me turned to gray at that
moment--the injured and the well, the visitors and the doctors as
well as the furnishings and the sky through the glass. It was like
stepping into a black and white movie, only the shadows around me
undulated and moved, oozed and laughed in whispered voices.

I was too shocked to be scared--though a
scream would be nice about right now.

And there was color in front of me. Brilliant
color. It was Dags, standing in the center of a ring of light, his
hands to the sides of his head, his eyes closed. He was in pain and
there was a tinkling like a bell somewhere in the air. Everyone
stopped moving.

Everyone. Including Rhonda. But not Dags and
I. I looked down at myself and saw the same vibrant colors. What
the hell?

The familiar presence was close now and I
looked at the front door. There was movement there, a subtle shape
and shadow surrounding a tall, thin gentleman in an expensive suit.
He walked with a strange menagerie of creatures trailing behind
him--but not creatures that the normal human could see.

But I could see them.

And so could Dags. His eyes were open wide
now and he was looking at them just as I was. But what was
worse--they were noticing
him
. The creatures were--the odd
shapes and tentacled things that trailed behind this human man. But
the man--he had stopped in the doorway and was looking around for
something.

"Sonofa--" came Rhonda's voice beside me and
in a blink the world came back in full, blinding color. Rhonda was
beside Dags, pulling him out of the atrium and into the side
waiting room.

I looked back at the man--and he was looking
directly at me. And he was smiling. It was like having Wayne Pygram
leering at me.

Ewwwwww.

There was something else there as well--that
familiar taint to the air. It was almost the smell of sex but not
quite. Something I smelled in the morgue that evening. Something
I'd only felt when Trench Coat was around--

Too late I realized what I was staring
at.

"Zoë!" Rhonda hissed at me from behind. "It's
a Symbiont!"

*****

CHAPTER SIX

His smile deepened.

No--couldn't be a Symbiont. It felt
all-wrong. Well yeah it felt right, but it was wrong. And what were
those things around it? The things I'd just seen when that whole
slow-down-time-John-Woo thing happened?

Need answers here.

A hand grabbed my arm and yanked me backward.
I stumbled with Rhonda as she pulled me into the waiting room as
well, but I had to peek around the wall to see what it was
doing.

"Doctor Bonville," a woman in a white coat
dashed up to the Wayne Pygram look-a-like. He leaned down and
turned an ear to her. I couldn't hear her whisper. But who
cared.

I was still shocked. This guy was Dr.
Bonville? This was the Chief of Surgery?

Holy shit.