Read The Lingering Dead Online
Authors: J. N. Duncan
The Lingering Dead (23 page)
Charlotte's scream of surprise followed Jackie through and then faded abruptly. The cell door remained open in the now empty police station. Fog shifted around in swirling eddies over the floor. Jackie hopped down from the bench and checked her stomach with her fingers. There was a small tear in the fabric and her fingers came away with a dark smear of blood.
“Damn it,” she said and lifted the shirt. “I think she got me.”
Laurel stood next to her now and knelt to look. “It's just a small puncture. It'll be OK. We should get out of here before that Spindly Man shows up.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Back to Nick's maybeâ”
“Jackie Rutledge.” The familiar, harsh and hollow, two-pack-a-day voice spoke from the depths of an empty cavern. “I would speak with you.”
She stepped up to the cell door as the thing came into view, gliding over the floor, its long, thin arms shifting in a disjointed motion that gave it an awkward gait. The glowing green orbs, run through with pale yellow veins, stared at her, or so it seemed, as there were no pupils to give its gaze a sense of direction. Surrounding those bug eyes was an upswept coating of spines, giving its head the look of a steel-bristled brush.
Jackie flung the door closed, only to have it clang against the stop and bounce back open. The terror gripping her pounding heart told her to get out now, but common sense said to wait. It would only keep following her, waiting on the other side wherever she went. As frightening as the thing appeared, it had never actually attacked her or even tried to. It had only followed. Why? What the hell did it want? Bail or face it down?
“Hon, to Nick's! Now!” Laurel said. She stepped forward, between Jackie and the Spindly Man.
“Wait, Laur,” she replied and held up her trembling hand. “Not yet.”
“Jackie!” Laurel stared at her in disbelief. “No.”
The Spindly Man stopped at the cell door and reached over to his right arm, plucking out one of the spines. It gripped the spine much like a knife, and its attention turned to Laurel.
She shrank away from the dark, four-inch needle, and Jackie slid over in front of her. The Spindly Man stopped and stepped to go around, but Jackie moved to block it again. “You got a fucking question, you ask me. Leave her alone.”
It was a dangerous gambit, but Jackie figured that if it only wanted to see her, then everyone else was just in the way and of no real consequence. It could have killed her back in the beginning if that had been its agenda. Given the speed with which it had been following her around, that initial encounter could only have been something more cursory, like curiosity.
The thing paused turning its head toward her and then back to Laurel. Abruptly, the needle fell to the ground, clinking on the hardwood floor as though it was made of metal. Jackie looked down at the thin spine. Metal? Really? The thing grew metallic spines? The pit in her stomach grew a bit deeper.
“Laur, if it makes any kind of move, we go to Nick's,” she said.
“Jackie?” Laurel clearly did not like this risk.
“I want to know what the hell this thing wants,” Jackie said, trying to draw upon the anger she had over the additional fear this thing had brought into her life. “So, Spindly Man? What do you want? Who are you? What are you?”
It looked at her in silence with its unblinking, veiny green eyes. Its lanky, spine-covered body continually shifted and adjusted, as though it were uncomfortable in its own skin.
“I am Nixtchapooliomintchoktaleee of ...”
Jackie tuned out the gibberish. She could not pronounce any of it, much less understand what any of it meant. “How about we shorten that all to Nix? I can't say any of that.”
Its toothless mouth twisted around for a moment. “Acceptable.”
“Why are you following me, Nix?”
“You are key,” it said.
“Key to what? You don't even know who I am. What could I have possibly done to make me key to anything?”
Nix slowly raised a hand, pointing a multijointed finger at her. “Key to door. You come open.”
“I'm not going to do anyâ”
A cold rush of air enveloped Jackie as the door to the other side pushed open and Charlotte stepped between worlds, switchblade still in hand. Her mouth was drawn down into a thin, venomous line.
“How can youâ?” Charlotte stopped when she caught sight of Nix and staggered away toward the corner of the room. “You're with that ... that thing?”
Jackie jumped toward the door, stepping out of the path between them. She knew about Nix? “We just met about a minute ago.”
“I should've known,” she said with a sneer, waving the blade in a wide arc in front of her. “I finally got her and you want to ruin everything!” Nix reached down to its body with each hand and plucked out a pair of spines, and Charlotte turned her focus to it. The doorway behind her began to stretch open once again. “You stay away from me, you freak!”
A soft hum, eerie in its pleasant tone, issued forth from Nix's mouth. It said something unintelligible and leaped at Charlotte, who screamed and stumbled back through her doorway, leaving Nix to crash into the corner of the cell. The thing had moved with blinding speed, almost too fast to follow.
Jackie had had enough. If Charlotte could come through, then staying here was even less safe than before. “Laur?” She reached out to her with her hand. “Now.”
Laurel clasped onto her hand, its grip dry and cold, and Jackie focused on Nick's house, willing herself toward that comfortable place before the fire. Nix turned toward them, spines in hand, an indecipherable look on its alien face. A moment later, he was gone.
Chapter 22
The sleepy little town of Thatcher's Mill had sprung to life. Shelby was forced to slow to a sane speed as they entered the town proper, otherwise she might have hit someone crossing the street. People were out everywhere, but the obvious spot was in the center of town outside of the diner. The crowd had spilled out into the road, making getting through all but impossible. Some had weapons, rifles, shotguns, shovels, and anything else they could apparently find handy. It was a mob looking for a victim.
“Maybe you shouldâ” Nick began.
“I'll circle around behind the station,” Shelby finished, sliding the car around the first corner they came to and driving down to the next block where the police station stood. There was a crowd out front there, too, and Nick was hopeful they had a back way into the station to avoid any confrontation with the locals.
“Charlotte has them all on edge,” Nick said.
“Crazy,” Shelby replied. “You'd think we were alien invaders or something.”
“Might as well be,” Nick said. “If Charlotte feels attacked, you can be sure they will, too. At least those under her sway.”
“Looks like the whole damn town is out to get us.”
“Wouldn't surprise me.” The car came to a stop behind the station in front of the back door, and Nick stepped out. “Let's hope we don't have to go through them to get to Charlotte.”
Nick did not bother knocking, exerting enough power to trip the lock instead, and stepped into the station. At the end of the short hall to the reception area, McManus poked his head around the corner and then stepped into view, sagging with relief.
“I was worried you might run into trouble out there,” he said. “What the hell did you guys do here?”
Nick ignored the question. “Anything on Jackie?”
“No,” he replied. “The clueless wonder-sheriff doesn't run a very tight ship around here.”
Carson's voice piped in from around the corner. “Things were just fine until you city folk came in and stuck your noses where they didn't belong.”
Nick stepped into the reception room and found Carson sitting on the edge of the reception desk, looking like a disgruntled child. Three strides had Nick standing in his face, where he grabbed two fists full of khaki uniform and pushed him up against the wall, leaving Carson's feet dangling six inches off of the floor.
“What happened here, Carson?” he asked, his gaze boring into Carson. “What the hell did you do with Jackie?”
Carson gasped and spluttered, grabbing at Nick's arms and kicking at his shins. “I don't know. This is assaulting an officer! I will have you arrested for this.”
McManus cleared his throat. “Carson, I don't think you're in a position to be making threats, so you might want to cooperate with Mr. Anderson. I'm not sure I could get him off of you before he caved your chest in.”
“What?” Carson struggled even more violently to break Nick's hold. “You federal fucks think you can just walk inâ”
Nick slammed him against the wall again, hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. “Where is she, Carson?”
“I don't know!” he squeaked. “I ... I stepped out to deal with the crowd. When I came back in ... she was gone.”
“Who else was here?”
“Nobody!”
“What about Charlotte?” Nick focused his energies on Carson even tighter. “Did Charlotte come in here?”
“I don'tâ” Nick reinforced his question by pushing his fists harder against Carson's chest, who cried out in pain. “Yes! She was here, but I saw her leave alone.”
Nick dropped him roughly to the floor. “Was the cell door open?” Would Charlotte have freed her? Or perhaps charmed her to walk out the back door so she could grab her outside?
“Sonofabitch,” Carson said. “I'll be reporting you assholes. You can count on it.”
Nick stabbed a finger against Carson's chest. “If you let Charlotte get hold of Jackie, you won't be reporting anything. Ever.”
Carson tried to puff himself up against Nick, but the round gut, red face, and wheezing breath defeated his efforts. “Are you threatening me? You'll go to jail for this, Anderson.”
Nick grabbed Carson's chin in his hands, hard enough to bruise it. “No, you won't.” Finally, he thrust him away and stepped back. Even the smell of the man was turning his stomach.
McManus chuckled. “OK, got the picture now, Carson? You're in deep shit here. Where is Charlotte?”
“How the hell would I know? You try her house?”
Nick was about to slap him across the face when the cell in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and saw that it was Jackie's number. All of the rage abruptly flowed out of him. “Jackie? Where the hell are you? Are you OK?”
“Nick!” Her voice sounded out of breath. “I'm back at your house.”
Her words stunned him momentarily. “What?”
Shelby was beside him an instant later. “Is she all right?”
“She's back at home,” Nick said. Then it dawned on him what must have happened.
“Charlotte came after me,” she said. “I had to ... go over there.”
Hell. Damn it all straight to hell.
“Are you all right?” he asked again.
“Are you all right?” he asked again.
“I think so.” She took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush into his ear, full of fear and relief. “Think you can get back here soon?”
“Yes,” Nick said, breathing a sigh of relief himself. “We're on our way.” He was about to click off when he put the phone back to his ear. “Jackie?”
“What?”
“I'm glad you're OK. I was worried there for a minute.”
She laughed. “Not sure OK is the word I'd use, but thanks. I'm alive at least.”
Nick put the phone away. “We have to go,” he said.
“What's going on?” McManus asked.
“Jackie is back in Chicago,” he replied, and then raised a hand to McManus's open mouth. “Don't ask. We'll explain later. Charlotte Thatcher attacked her. She had to leave.”
“Hey,” McManus said, sounding pleased. “She's OK, and that gives us something to work with now. I can deal with assault charges.”
“That's not under your jurisdiction!” Carson yelled. “You can't have Charlie arrested for that.”
McManus walked over to Carson, casually putting his hands into his pockets. He looked very FBI in his dark blue suit and tie. “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Thatcher, Chief Carson? Can I count on you to bring her down here for questioning?”
“I'll do no such thing,” he replied. “You have no basis for anything here. It's pure conjecture, and this is my town, Agent McManus. If anyone is going to be doing some arresting, it'll be me.”
McManus gave him a wry smile. “Then perhaps you would like to go have a word with Ms. Thatcher and tell her that I'd like to ask her a few questions about her interactions with Ms. Rutledge.”
Carson looked around at the three of them, lingering the longest on Shelby, who had merely stood leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest for the entire time. “I'll speak to her, but I make no guarantees on her coming down here to talk with any of you.”
“Mr. Carson,” McManus said, “let me be clear. If you don't get her down here, I shall be going up there with the county sheriffs, who will be more than happy to assist me, given your obvious problems maintaining the safety of your prisoners.”
“You have no jurisdiction in local matters, Agent McManus,” Carson said. “I know the law.”
McManus shoved him back into the wall. “You let someone into your jail who assaulted my former partner. This is a personal matter now. You'll deal with it or I'll throw your ass into your own jail cell and take care of it myself.”
The fear and anger on Carson's face dissolved into something more like worry. “You can't do that.”
“Do I look like I'm joking?” McManus said.
“McManus,” Nick said, laying a hand on McManus's shoulder. “A quick word, please.”
“Sure,” he replied and stepped away with him to the other side of the room.
“Don't go up to the Thatcher's,” he said. “Not until I've seen to Jackie, and we can get back here.”
McManus smiled. “You think I'd go up to that place on my own after what you've told me? Not a chance in hell. Pernetti will have the others out here soon. We'll formulate a strategy to take her down when you get back here. Just don't take too long. I don't expect this asshole to bring her down here, but I have no plans of talking to her. If shit hits the fan, I'm getting my ass back up to Dubuque and we'll work from there.”
“I'll stay here with McManus,” Shelby said. “You might need my help.”
Nick nodded. “Thanks, Shel.”
“Go get our girl,” she said. “We need to take care of this before anyone out there gets killed.”
“Couldn't agree more,” McManus replied. “Get out of here, Nick. We'll stay in touch.”
“It will take us about five hours to get back. If Charlotte comes down here,” he added, “you need to leave. Shelby? I mean it.”
She smiled. “Would I try to do anything that stupid?”
Nick shook his head. “Of course you would. Just don't. I'll back as fast as I can. Call me when you're set up with everyone else.”
Shelby yelled at his back as Nick walked toward the back door. “Ye have little faith, babe. I'd never do any of the really stupid stuff without you.”
Nick closed the back door behind him. He had a feeling this whole thing was about to get really stupid.
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