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Farther back in the room, just one other light glowed. There were dozens of dangling light fixtures, but none of them were on; most of the bulbs looked broken.

The man stood. His chair slid back an inch, the sc.r.a.ping sound echoing off the boiler room’s concrete walls. He took in a long, slow breath through his nose, then exhaled out his mouth in a cheek-puffing expression of relief.

“Can I help you?” he said.

His eyes … there was something off in them. The man radiated excitement, like he wanted to jump and dance and scream, yet he stood stock-still.

“Uh, no, thanks,” Cooper said. “I’m just looking for my friend.”

The bald man smiled. He nodded. “A friend of yours is a friend of mine. We’re all friends now, right?”

Cooper didn’t know what to say. What was this man’s deal? Something about his eyes, how they glowed with intensity, with … joy. Joy, yes, but something else as well — this man looked more than a little crazy.

The dangerous kind of crazy.

“Sure, buddy,” Cooper said. “We’re all besties, whatever you want. My friend is six-two, about two hundred pounds, looks like he’s forty.” Cooper tapped his own left shoulder. “Brown hair about to here?”

The smiling man smiled some more. His front right tooth looked chipped. There was a fresh cut on his lip, the flesh torn and exposed. Cooper wondered if the two wounds happened with the same punch.

“I’ve seen a lot of people,” the man said. “A lot of people came down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Some left. Some stayed.”

Cooper quickly looked left, right — were there others down here? He’d been scared in the stairwell, but he’d been alone. Now his stomach pinched and twirled. His hands shook. This was a bad scene, as bad as bad got. He had to get out of there, but he wasn’t leaving without Jeff.

He lifted his phone to dial Jeff’s cell again but saw that he had zero bars — no connection in the boiler room.

Cooper put the phone in his pocket. “See anyone wearing an AC/DC T-s.h.i.+rt? A black one?”

The bald man nodded. “Oh, sure! That guy’s here. He’s resting.”

Cooper’s heart raced. He could get his friend and get the h.e.l.l out of there, leave this two-cards-shy-of-a-full-deck Wisconsinite behind.

Cooper forced a smile. “Can you show me? I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure,” the bald man said. “We’re all friends now, right?”

“All friends,” Cooper echoed. “Total BFFs.”

“Huh? Bee-eff-eff?”

“We’re friends, I mean,” Cooper said. “Show me?”