Part 57 (2/2)
”I'm not following. What-?”
”Darryl ...” The guy shook his head.
”Darryl?” He remembered Ansari telling him about his HIV. ”I thought he'd been kicked out.”
”So did I. But he was back this morning and ...” He shook his head again and looked away.
”Thanks. You've been a big help.”
As Jack turned and climbed toward the entrance, he heard the wail of sirens. From the top of the steps he could see a pair of ambulances making their way down the street. He hurried inside where he found more sh.e.l.l-shocked Kickers milling around.
Where would Darryl and Ansari be? A group of guys were cl.u.s.tered around the stairway down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. He headed in their direction. The bas.e.m.e.nt looked like the place to be, and after following Thompson and Drexler yesterday, that made sense. If the Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca was here, that was where he'd find it. was here, that was where he'd find it.
”All right, everybody!” he called, clapping his hands as he approached. ”Let's get clear! The ambulances are here. Let's let the EMTs through.”
He began clearing a path down the steps, but a big guy at the door wouldn't move.
”Off-limits. And who the f.u.c.k are you?”
Jack looked him square in the eye. ”One of your Kicker brothers. And I've got EMTs right behind me. You gonna keep them out while Hags and Ansari bleed to death?”
His eyes s.h.i.+fted. ”Ain't bleeding.”
No? Strange. Now he wanted more than ever to get past that door.
”You know what I mean. Come on, clear the door. You really gonna stand there and keep them from getting help?”
That last seemed to do it. With a grunt he turned the k.n.o.b and shoved the door open. Jack slipped through and found a mess.
He counted eight Kickers, each seemingly damaged in a different way, lying or sitting on the floor. Moans and sobs filled the room. Half a dozen others stood and stared at them or tried to help. He spotted Ansari on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as he felt around on the floor with his left hand.
”Anybody seen my hand? Where's my f.u.c.king hand?”
What?
And then Jack saw the stump of his right wrist, but no blood there-it looked charred.
Hagaman sat on the floor, his back against the wall, his face a sick pale green. He clutched the stump of his left arm, charred as well. The rest of the arm lay across his lap.
He kept repeating, ”You think they'll be able to sew it back on? Do ya? Do ya?”
Half a dozen other Kickers had deep, deep burns in their arms and backs. One lay facedown on the floor. He had a fist-size hole in his upper back, all the way through into his chest cavity. Except for the lack of blood, it looked like the kind of exit wound a Magnum hollowpoint would make. The guy's eyes stared at nothing and he wasn't breathing.
What the h.e.l.l happened here?
”Where's the boss?” he asked one of the dazed-looking Kickers standing around and watching. The guy wore his sandy hair in a long mullet.
”Huh?” He blinked and focused. He seemed to have been in a trance. ”He followed Darryl.”
”Where'd they go?”
”The f.u.c.k should I know?” he said, his voice thick with the Deep South. ”I just hope I never f.u.c.kin see that guy again.”
”Who, the boss?”
”You f.u.c.kin kiddin me? Darryl!” He gestured to the fallen Kickers. ”Look what he did!”
Jack stared at the guy. He seemed sober. His pupils looked okay.
Shock seeped through as he surveyed the devastation again.
”Darryl did this?”
”f.u.c.k yeah!”
Jack tried to imagine it and failed.
”How?”
”The f.u.c.k I know? Like anything he touched turned to steam. Never seen nothin like it and hope to G.o.d I never see it again.”
Darryl? This guy had to be on drugs. But then again, the wounds Jack had seen sort of fit with what he was saying.
But how? Could it have anything to do with the Fhinntmanchca Fhinntmanchca? Had to. What other explanation could there be?
Over the guy's shoulder and past his mullet, Jack saw the door to the smaller side room standing open. He needed to see what lay at the bottom of that circular stairway.
”How about Drexler? He around?”
”Who?”
”The dude in the white suit.”
”Oh, yeah. That his name? He went with the boss.”
The EMTs arrived then, and suddenly the focus was on them. Jack used the diversion to slip into the back room.
Inside, the closet door stood open, with the trapdoor up as well. Looked like someone had left in a hurry. Jack closed the door to the main room, then stepped into the closet and listened for sound from below.
All quiet.
Okay. Make this quick.
<script>