Part 15 (1/2)

The volunteer had already started back toward the elevator. s.h.i.+reen returned to her magazine. ”Which room?” I asked.

She tossed her magazine onto the vinyl couch with an irritated sigh. ”This way,” she said.

She opened the door and stepped into Harlan's room. I heard a rasping voice before I saw him. He said, ”Out,” in a raw, strained voice.

”Someone is here to visit you,” s.h.i.+reen said. ”Try to show him more courtesy than you've shown me.”

Harlan lay in the bed. He had tubes in his nose, his arms, and his chest. He looked smaller, than I remembered him, but everyone looked smaller lying in a hospital bed. Everyone looked smaller without a gun, too.

s.h.i.+reen pushed by me and shut the door behind her. I pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

Harlan looked pale and exhausted. He might have been getting good care, but no one was going to make him live if he didn't want to.

”Having a bad week?” I asked. Harlan made a wheezing sound that might have been laughter. He winced in pain. ”Sorry, man,” I said. ”No more jokes. I promise.”

He settled down. I went to the foot of his bed. There was a chart hanging there, just like they show on TV, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

”How you doing?” Harlan rasped.

”How am I doing with my...” I almost said investigation, but that's a cop's word. I didn't want to say it. ”I'm further along,” I said, ”but this town is a mess. And it's scary. But I've got nothing to lose.”

And that was true. Harlan and I were both pretty close to death. Despite his injuries, I figured it was even money to see which of us would live longer.

”How long ago did this start?” I asked. ”The kids, I mean.”

Harlan held up his hand in a peace sign. Two.

”Two months?” I asked. He frowned. ”Two years?!” He relaxed. I'd gotten it right.

Two years. Christ.

”Did something else happen around then? Something that seemed strange or...” Harlan's eyes grew dim. He was exhausted, and I had pushed him far enough. ”Relax, dude,” I said. ”And hold on. I'm going to need to ask you more questions when you're better. I need your help, okay?”

He nodded faintly. I didn't really think he could help me much more, but I wanted to give him a reason to hold on. I stood and left him lying there, alone. I heard him struggling to breathe.

s.h.i.+reen had company with her in the waiting room. Standing beside her was a short, fat man in a stained polo s.h.i.+rt and brown shorts that reached just below his hairy knees. He held a tape recorder in his hand. I disliked him on sight.

”Come on, s.h.i.+reen,” he said, his voice an annoying whine. ”I'm going to find out...” s.h.i.+reen's face was set in a scowl. She was not about to answer anyone's questions.

He glanced over at me, and his face lit up. He turned to me. ”Hey! I've been trying to catch up with you for two days. I'm Peter Lemly with The Mallet. What's your connection with Harlan Semple? Is it true that you've come to town to outsource some of the Hammer Bay manufacturing jobs?”

I stared at him. He stared back, holding the tape recorder out. I leaned toward the microphone and said, very clearly, ”You're just about as wide as you are tall, aren't you?”

He yanked back the recorder, but he didn't turn it off. He looked fl.u.s.tered and aggravated. ”I know who you are,” he said, trying to make it sound like a threat.

”So does she.” I jerked my thumb at s.h.i.+reen. ”Now why don't you go away so I can express my sympathies in private.”

”Are you a friend of the family, then?”

”Nope. Never met any of them before two days ago.”

”What about the jobs at the toy factory?” he asked.

”I don't know what you're talking about.” The rumor would work for us while it was a rumor. As soon as it appeared somewhere official, Able Katz could refute it and it would lose some of its power.

”Actually, I think you do. I'm the only media this town has, and I'm not going to be pushed around. I'm going to get some answers myself.” He turned to s.h.i.+reen. ”Do you hear what I'm saying? I'm going to find out.”

”I'm not going to talk to you, Peter.” She wouldn't look at him. ”I'm never going to talk to you. Now, excuse me, I think my visit is over.”

She turned to leave. Peter started to follow her, but I stepped in his path.

”The lady wants to leave,” I said. ”Leave her be.”

”So macho,” he sneered. ”So chivalrous. You have no idea who you're protecting.”

”What story are you following?” If he had said missing children, I would have swallowed my bile and bought him a drink. With my last six bucks.

”Town corruption,” he said.

”You're after...” I let the sentence trail off. Lemly was eager to finish it for me.

”The Dubois brothers. And the mayor, too, if he's involved. And the town council. The whole town knows what's going on, but no one will stand up to Emmett Dubois. Except me.”

”Good luck with that.” s.h.i.+reen had already entered the elevator at the end of the hall. The doors closed over her unhappy face. I turned away from my companion.

”Wait!” He grabbed my elbow. ”What are you doing in town? What have you come here to do?”

”Good luck with your story,” I said. ”I hope you don't get anyone killed.”

I turned my back on him and walked toward the elevator. He followed me, peppering me with questions. He wasn't very good at it.

The elevator opened again. I stepped inside and shoved Peter away from me. He didn't fall, but he did keep his distance while the doors closed.

I rode down the elevator, thinking about my own behavior in the last hour. I'd driven around in a stolen van, jumped into an SUV and menaced a woman, and shoved a guy in a hospital hallway.

I'd never been this reckless and aggressive, even back when I was part of Arne's crew. I knew the cause of it, of course. I was a dead man. I had agreed to be cannon fodder for Annalise's war. Despite her recent gestures of friends.h.i.+p, she had promised to see me dead, and it felt very, very close.

I laid my head against the cool stainless steel wall of the elevator. The best I could hope for was that I would be there when Annalise took down Charlie Three. I wanted to see her put an end to that b.a.s.t.a.r.d and avenge those children.

I didn't know when and how she would make her next move. Could she take out Charlie Three alone, injured as she was? What if she failed?

That pleasant thought was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. I walked into the lobby and asked the woman at the reception desk for directions to Hammer Street.

I got them. Of course Hammer Street wasn't on my tourist map, but it was near the toy factory, on the inland side of the plant, about as far south as the light house.

I left Ethan's van where it was. Then I headed out onto the sidewalk, oriented myself, and started walking.