Desolation (14 page)

“Yes.”

“We just want to talk to you, Ricky. That’s all. Will you talk to us?”

“Uh … why?”

“Because you might be able to help us with something,” said Linda.

The Party-Monster stared at her. “Your boobs are huge.”

“They are big, yes. Do you have anything to add to that?”

The Party-Monster shook his head dumbly.

Linda nodded. “I didn’t think so. Ricky, we want to know about the Narrow Man.”

There was a scene in
An American Werewolf in London
where the two American guys walked into a Yorkshire pub, and all the talking stopped and everyone turned and stared at them. Kelly had just seen that movie a few months ago, after it was referenced on
In The Dark Places
. She was reminded of it now.

“I’m gonna call the police,” said the bartender. “You come in here, disturbing the peace …”

He pulled out a phone and Ronnie smiled, leaned over, and snatched it out of his hand. “No cops,” he said.

The bartender’s eyes bulged with anger, and all of a sudden he was taking a baseball bat from behind the bar and he was swinging it and just as quickly Ronnie had snatched that from his hands, too.

“We just want to talk,” Ronnie said calmly.

“Get them!” Dave yelled.

Ronnie dropped the bat and then dropped Dave as the Party-Monster made a grab for Linda. She flipped him over her hip and when he slammed to the ground she twisted his arm until he cried out. Ricky swung a beer bottle at Kelly’s head, but she just stepped forward and slammed her forehead into his face.

Ricky staggered back against the bar, blood pumping from his nose.

Nobody else in the bar moved.

“Okay then,” said Ronnie. He took hold of Ricky’s arm and led him out of the bar. Linda released Party-Monster and followed, and Warrick went next, Two at his heels.

“Hey,” said the bartender weakly, “no dogs allowed.”

“Sorry about that,” Kelly said, and handed the bartender back his baseball bat before following the others outside. She found them in the alley behind the bar. Ricky was standing with his back to a dumpster, both hands over his nose.

“You broke it!” he said when he saw her.

“Ricky, focus,” Ronnie said, snapping his fingers. “Tell us about the Narrow Man.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

Ronnie flicked his hand against Ricky’s, and Ricky howled. “My nose! Be careful!”

“Tell us.”

Ricky took a moment for the pain to subside. “I don’t know anything,” he said, but with less aggression this time.

“Then how about we tell you what we know,” said Linda. “For a start, we know he’s real. We know he kills kids. Have you seen him?”

“I haven’t seen anyone. I got nothing to say to you. You’re in so much trouble, you have
no idea
.”

“Where can we find him?” Kelly asked.

Ricky laughed despite the blood. “You don’t, you stupid bitch. He finds you. And you better pray he doesn’t. You better pray
I
don’t.”

“You?” said Kelly. “I don’t know how to break this to you, Ricky, but you’re not a very scary guy.”

“Not yet,” he responded. “But I will be. You don’t wanna be around for that.”

“I don’t even want to be around for
this
, but here I am. Make this easy on yourself, okay? We’re not leaving you alone until we know where to find the Narrow Man. Where did you see him?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t.”

Ronnie sighed, and kicked Ricky’s legs out from under him. Ricky slammed down on to his ass and cried out, and Linda stepped on his left hand while Ronnie pinned his right arm.

“Right on the tail bone, huh?” Ronnie asked. “Man, that hurts. Everyone knows how much that hurts. That is some exquisite pain you’re going through.”

“Let me go!” Ricky howled.

“Warrick,” said Ronnie.

Warrick brought Two forward. “Hi, Ricky,” he said. “This is my dog. If you don’t tell us what we want to know, I’m going to take my hand off his collar.”

Ricky shrank back. “He’ll kill me.”

“Hmm? Oh no. I mean, yeah, he would if I told him to, but he’s not going to attack you, Ricky. He’s going to seduce you.”

“Wh-what?”

“He’s going to hump your face, dude.”

“No way.”

“I’m serious. Look at him. Look at his big silly smile. Look at the way his tongue is hanging out. Two is ready for some lovin’.”

“Get it away from me, you freak.”

Warrick released his grip, Two bounded happily forward, and Ricky thrashed.

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you!”

Warrick took hold of Two’s collar, pulled him back a little.

“You’re responsible for the mural on the wall, aren’t you?” said Linda. “You’ve got some serious artistic chops there, Ricky. Whatever happened to that?”

Still glaring at Two, Ricky said, “I grew up.”

“Debatable. But the way you drew him … it was like you’d seen him with your own eyes. Is that what happened?”

“Why?” Ricky asked. “Why are you asking all this? Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?”

“Why don’t you tell us?” said Kelly.

Ricky sneered. “And ruin the surprise? No way.”

“Tell us about the time you saw him.”

“I didn’t know what I saw, all right? I was thirteen. I was stupid. I was a kid. You know how stupid kids are.
Duh, I’m a kid!
”

“That’s a great impression of a kid,” said Kelly.

“And I was half asleep, for Christ’s sake. I woke up in the middle of the night and …”

“And what?”

“It was a dream,” said Ricky.

“What did you see?”

“I dreamed that I saw him standing over my brother’s bed.”

“The Narrow Man?” Ronnie pressed. “The figure you painted on the wall?”

“Yeah,” said Ricky, “him. Only it wasn’t him, I found out afterwards. It was someone else. A drifter. He came in and took my brother, and I was half asleep and I thought it was a monster.”

Kelly frowned. “He took your brother?”

“It was a homeless guy, a vagrant, passing through town. We get a lot of those here. He snuck in through the window I’d left unlocked.”

“Was he found?” Linda asked. “Your brother?”

Ricky shook his head.

“What about the vagrant?”

“Chief Novak caught him a week later,” Ricky said. “He was burning bloodstained clothes, up in the hills. He confessed, told him he’d take him to where he’d buried the body, but then he ran at the Chief and the Chief had to put him down. Had to put him right down.”

“But the person you saw taking your brother,” said Kelly, “it
wasn’t
a homeless guy, was it?”

“I was dreaming that,” said Ricky. “You understand? It wasn’t the goddamn Narrow Man. It was a frickin’ homeless guy. The Narrow Man is a kids’ story. I was a kid, I didn’t know what I was seeing – that’s how my mind interpreted it. All of this was explained to me later.”

“Why did he go after your brother?” Warrick asked.

“How the hell should I know? He was sick in the head. Probably saw us out playing and made his choice. World is full of perverts.”

“What about the voting?”

Ricky glared.

“Did your brother get many votes that year?”

Ricky straightened up. “You don’t know anything. You act like you do, but you don’t. The Narrow Man isn’t real. A homeless guy killed my brother because I left the window unlocked. That’s all it is. That little ballot box? It’s to keep kids in line. That’s all. And you know what? It works.”

Kelly looked at Linda, saw her slight shrug.

“Thanks very much, Ricky,” Kelly said. “I’ve really enjoyed our talk. In answer to your earlier question, I am dynamite in the sack, but unfortunately you’ll never experience that for yourself.”

“Wouldn’t want to,” Ricky said immediately.

She smiled, and Warrick led the way across the road to the van. As Ricky struggled to his feet, Ronnie turned back.

“Hey, Ricky? What’s this town festival we’ve been hearing about?”

Now it was Ricky’s turn to smile, and when he did he gave them all a good look at his bloody teeth. “You’ll find out,” he said. “Stick around and you’ll find out.”

He laughed, then turned and ran into the shadows. They heard him slip and crash into something and howl in pain.

“Have a good night,” Kelly called, and climbed into the van. “What a nice guy,” she said.

T
HE
D
ESOLATION
H
ILL
P
OLICE
D
EPARTMENT
occupied the back of the Municipal Building, which stretched from Main Street to its little brother, Market Street. Unlike the side facing the square, the rear of the building didn’t have any steps or pillars to proclaim its majesty, but it did have a parking lot and a wheelchair ramp.

The cruiser swung into the lot. One other cruiser and three civilian vehicles were already parked here, but the Chief had his own space, clearly marked. They stopped and Novak picked his hat off the passenger seat and got out. He opened Amber’s door and nodded. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, so she adjusted her position, got one foot out and stood, nearly overbalanced. Novak steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. Milo came next, sliding sideways, ducking his head and then standing beside her.

“You now,” Novak said to Daggett.

“Can’t you come round and open this one?” Daggett asked.

“I shined these shoes this morning,” Novak said. “The less walking I do, the longer they’ll stay shiny.”

Daggett muttered something under his breath, then started sliding awkwardly across the seat. He got one leg out, tried to shift his bulk, and looked up. “Little help?”

“Out,” said Novak. “Now.”

“Could I have some help?” Daggett said loudly. “I have glandular problems and I would appreciate some assistance, officer.”

“I’m not an officer,” said Novak. “I’m the Chief.”

Daggett glared, then took a deep breath and heaved himself out of the cruiser. His foot caught and he fell to his knees, then sprawled on to his belly. “I’m hurt! I’m hurt! I’m gonna sue! You haven’t even charged me with anything! I’ve committed no crime and now I’ve injured myself!”

“Up,” said Novak.

“I’m gonna sue!”

“So sue standing up,” said Novak.

He reached down, took hold of Daggett’s left ear, and twisted. Daggett howled, his legs kicking, and Novak pulled him slowly to his feet before letting go.

“You saw that!” Daggett shouted to Amber and Milo. “You both saw him assault me! I have witnesses!”

“Pretty sure your witnesses were fixing to kill you before I showed up,” said Novak. “I doubt they care about your civil rights.” He swept a hand towards the ramp leading up to the double doors with a police badge on the glass. Amber led the way, then Milo, and Novak followed Daggett, who kept complaining even though no one was listening.

The doors slid open and Amber stepped into a gleaming police station, all bright and clean and tidy. There was a civilian behind the desk with an ID badge around her neck, talking quietly into a headset. When Novak came in, she relaxed, nodded to him, and did something behind the desk that resulted in a door to their right beeping as it opened.

At Novak’s gesture, Amber walked to the door, and passed from gleaming and sleek to concrete and grey. There was another door just beyond and she waited at it while Novak moved up beside her. He took a card from his pocket and passed it over a sensor and the door clicked and he pushed it open.

There were two jail cells with barred walls and barred doors on each side of the room they walked into. All were empty. Amber walked into the first cell on the left. Milo walked into the second. Novak put Daggett in the cell opposite. He had them all back up to the bars and he took off their cuffs, then walked out.

“You haven’t charged me with anything!” Daggett shouted after him. “You haven’t charged me!”

The door shut with a click.

Amber looked at her cell. The bunk had a thin pillow and a thin blanket. The sink had a small bar of soap. The toilet, at least, had a seat, but no curtain or anything to protect her privacy.

“Hey,” said Daggett. “Hey, girlie. This is all your fault, I hope you realise that. If you hadn’t tricked me, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“You wanted to give me to the Hounds,” she said. “I think I prefer being here, to be honest.”

Daggett shook his head, a look of disgust on his face.

Milo watched him, and said, “The Yukon Strangler, eh?”

Daggett grabbed the bars and pressed his face between them. “You keep that quiet!” he said. “You say one word about that and I’ll start telling tales of my
own
. Maybe a little something about the Ghost of the Highway, see if that gets Deputy Dawg’s interest.”

Milo gave him a smile. “I doubt it would. Those murders are fifteen years and three thousand miles away. But a self-confessed strangler from just over the border …”

“I never confessed to nothing,” Daggett said.

“You confessed to me,” said Amber. “You said you’d strangled lots of women – although you didn’t call them women, did you? You had lots of names for them, but not women.”

Daggett sneered. “Is that what this is? You’re still upset because of the name-calling?”