Blood of Angels

by Marshall, Michael

  'You have to evacuate the school,' John said.

  The woman stared at us. She was tall with bouffant hair and would have looked equally at home kicking butt in the boardroom of a Fortune 500 company.

  'What are you talking about? Who are you?'

  'Someone's about to launch an attack on this school.'

  The woman stood slowly. 'Someone…how? What on earth makes you think that?'

  'We don't have time to go into it,' I said. 'Please just take our word it's a very strong possibility.'

  The woman reached for the phone on the corner of her desk. John got there first and put his hand on it. The principal pursed her lips and spoke to someone over my shoulder.

  'Jane, call the police, would you, and then get Ben up here right away. Tell him we have intruders.'

  I turned to see the woman from the outer office was standing in the doorway. 'Please don't do that,' I said.

  Something distracted the woman and she ducked out of sight. I turned back to the principal.

  'Ms Singer,' I said. 'I know this is weird. But you have to believe what we're telling you.'

  'Of course I don't. If there's a threat to this school the police would have contacted me.'

  'We just discussed the situation with one of them,' I said. 'It's not certain they can be trusted.'

  'Can't be…good grief. Jane, get Ben up here. Right now.'

  There was no response from the outer office, but then we heard the older woman's voice querulously upbraiding someone. The door was abruptly pulled wide.

  A kid walked in. It was the kid with the skateboard we'd encountered outside the gate—except by now it was clear to me he was not a kid and he did not attend this school or any other. He started talking straight away, injured and self-righteous.

  'Ma'am, I was standing outside the gate and two guys came and hassled me. These two guys right here.'

  The woman stared at him. I sensed her days didn't usually go like this. 'Who are you? I don't remember you.'

  'Jason Scott, ma'am. These men tried to get me to go with them in their car.'

  The woman swept her gaze back to John. 'Give me back my phone. The police can deal with this.'

  John kept his hand on the handset. The woman opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a cell phone instead.

  'Okay, fuck it,' I said, angrily. 'Call the cops, Ms Singer. Whatever. But in the meantime please get everyone the hell out of this building. What's wrong with you? We're telling you the school is in danger. Are you hearing that? Do you want to take the risk?'

  'I wouldn't listen to them, ma'am,' said the kid. He giggled suddenly. 'One of them showed me his dick.'

  I tried to get through to her. 'You've never seen this kid before. Come on, think—have you? He doesn't go to school here. Do you recognize him at all?'

  'I can't remember every…'

  'Look his name up. See if there's a Jason Scott on the school roll. But do it fast.'

  She turned towards the computer sitting on the end of her desk, but without any real sense of purpose. I used all my reserves of patience not to leap at her.

  'Ma'am, either evacuate this place or we'll do it for you.'

  A voice called: 'Principal?'

  It was the woman in the outer office. 'There's something wrong with the phones,' she said. You could hear her tapping her handset impatiently. 'I can't get an outside line.'

  The principal looked at me. Suddenly I wasn't the strangest thing in her life.

  'Really,' I said, holding her eyes. 'Do it, and do it now.'

  'All right, Jane,' she said. 'Sound the fire alarm. Right away.'

  The young man with the skateboard smiled thinly. 'Jeez, but you guys are a pain in the ass.'

  He dropped his skateboard and pulled a gun with a snub silencer out of the front pocket of his sweater. He shot the principal in the head, turned and ran straight out the door.

  By the time John and I had our guns out I'd heard the soft clap of another muffled gunshot. I ran out into the other office to see the older woman lying sprawled against the wall, legs still moving but her face pressed down into the carpet. The back of her head wasn't there.

  'Find the alarm,' John said, and went running out past me.

  I searched all around the office but couldn't find any way of setting the alarm off. Then I realized there must be triggers out in the hallways. I hurried out and down the corridor, banging a fist on every door as I passed. By the time I got to the stairs there were puzzled heads sticking out of most of the rooms.

  'There's a fire,' I said, as calmly and convincingly as I could. 'Get everybody out.'

  'Where?' someone asked. 'What fire?'

  I abandoned calm and pointed a gun at him. 'Just fucking do it.'

  I ran down to the floor below and saw John tearing across the next intersection. I headed after him and soon passed an alarm box. I smashed the glass with my elbow and jabbed hard at the big red button.

  Nothing happened.

  I hit it again, this time with the palm of my hand. Then pushed it more gently, but still driving it in as far as it would go.

  'Oh Christ,' I said, and went running up to the next intersection. I found another alarm point and broke the glass with my fist. Palm-hit the button again and again.

  Nothing. I turned and saw John heading towards me, gun out.

  'They've disabled the alarm system,' I said. 'Forget that other guy. We're going to have to alert people ourselves.'

  He went running off down the corridor and yanked open the first door he came to. I heard him shouting at the people inside. I went the other way and did the same. I opened the door on a roomful of people sitting staring at the front as if hypnotized.

  'Evacuation,' I said, back to calm and convincing. 'We believe there's a fire. Get out of the building now.'

  The school's fire drills must have been good. Everyone got up quickly but in an orderly fashion. 'Tell anybody else you see,' I added, as an afterthought. 'Nobody run. Just get out of here and be careful.'

  This is going to be okay I thought, as they filed quickly past. Ten minutes, and this place will be clear and I can get on with what matters.

  Out in the corridor I confirmed other classrooms were emptying. Then out through a window I saw John had left the building and was walking purposefully across the lawns below, heading back to the first building. Maybe he was just on the way to clear that one out too, but he had a look in his eye and I decided I'd better be with him.

  I pushed my way through a loud buzz of kids and got down the stairs as quickly as I could. The lower hall was full of milling bodies and their movement was far quicker down here: quicker, and a little out of control.

  I heard shouting and realized somebody had found out what had happened to the principal and her assistant. A middle-aged man in a tweed jacket was stumbling down the stairs, blustering to another teacher, far too loud. He looked like just the kind of guy who'd have to check with the principal before following a simple instruction to get the hell out of a building that might be on fire.

  I shoved my way back to him, grabbed his lapels and got my face up close.

  'Shut it,' I said, quietly. 'Stop talking now.'

  He stared at me. 'What? What happened to…'

  I spoke low and fast. 'Ms Singer is dead. But these people do not need to know that right now. Don't cause a panic. Just help them leave the building as quickly as possible.'

  The man stared at me. 'You don't work here. Who are you?'

  'Just some guy,' I said, pushing him on his way. 'Now move.'

  Chapter 37

  Lee wasn't sure what to do now. He'd done his job, talked to a few people, come across like a friendly person and passed out party favours for them to try. He still didn't understand how this was worth doing when it didn't seem even slightly likely they'd be here to sell the next batch, but he'd done what he was told—as a prelude to not doing it next time. He'd been on his way out, ready to latch up with Paul outside the gates and demand to be put
on something more worthwhile, when he heard somebody call his name. He looked up to see two extremely suspicious-looking dudes in black heading quickly through the school gates and across the lawns.

  They were after some other kid at first—too far away to see if it was one of the ones he'd passed drugs to—and Lee could have kicked himself for looking up the way he did. It was amateur. Even Sleepy Pete would have had the presence of mind not to do something like that. But once it was done, you had to make the best of it. Lee ducked back into the school building as smoothly as possible, and made himself scarce in the maze of corridors. He heard one of the guys running into the building after him, but the familiarity of the layout made it easy for him to keep some distance ahead.

  He'd been crouched down the end of the lower corridor, waiting to see what direction he should head in next, when he saw something that spun him out. It looked a hell of a lot like Paul, running into the building. Lee blinked, and it still looked like Paul, even though he was dressed differently and he was sure it was one of the guys in black from outside. The guy stood absolutely still for a moment, like a listening animal, and then sprinted up the stairs to where the other guy had gone.

  Lee waited until he heard them come back down again and leave the building in a hurry. Then he slipped back upstairs. He decided he wasn't going anywhere until these two new guys were good and gone. Neither came across like a person it would be advisable to meet.

  He'd just decided he'd waited long enough when he noticed there'd been a change in the sound of the world. Previously it had been real quiet—hell of a lot quieter than his school had ever been, that's for sure. Now he could hear people talking. At some distance. Outside?

  He went to one of the windows in the side of the corridor, and looked down to see a bunch of kids were beginning to come out of the back of the next building, to stand together in the big area at the back. He looked at his watch and saw it could hardly be the end of the school day. Plus, why would they all be leaving via the back? It looked like a drill or something, though he hadn't heard any alarm go off.

  Whatever. Things were getting weird. It was time to be somewhere else.

  •••

  He was approaching the top of the stairs when he realized someone was coming up them. He was too far committed to make it back to his hiding place. He reminded himself that the two men couldn't have got that good a look at him. He'd been in the bathroom, that's all, seen the drill assembling outside. He was leaving the building, like you were supposed to.

  He started walking again and nearly ran slap into the person coming up. It was the young guy with the skateboard, except he didn't have it with him any more. He looked pretty hyped.

  'What's going on?' Lee asked.

  'We've got a problem,' the guy said. He was trying to keep his cool but riding close to the edge. 'The plan's hitting some turbulence. I've got to check in with Paul.'

  He pulled a tiny radio out of his pocket and stabbed at a button. Turned away from Lee and started talking fast in a low tone. He walked away down the corridor, listening, and then glanced up at Lee.

  And that's when Lee saw it.

  That's when he realized why the guy's face had looked familiar. Yes, he'd been one of the guys in the Belle Isle court, and yes he had probably also been one of the guys who'd stepped out of the shadows the very first time Lee had met Paul. But he'd seen his face in between those times too.

  Seen it down the end of an isolated parking lot at night, lit by a car headlamps. He was one of the three guys who hadn't come forward the way they were supposed to, but who hung back and then suddenly went ape.

  Lee stood staring at him. Tried to see the guy's face some other way. He couldn't. The picture had locked.

  The man pocketed the radio, grinned. He was way into character as a skate slacker, bobbing from foot to foot.

  'Apparently this is the plan,' he said. 'So, like, upwards and onwards.'

  Lee nodded. 'And when exactly did the plan start?'

  'What do you mean, bro?'

  'I mean, I thought it began after a friend of mine got killed and we did the wrong thing and hid his body because we were told to. Hernandez gave us a bad steer on purpose, and I thought things started after that.'

  'Right, yeah. Look, we don't have time for…'

  Lee started walking towards him. 'But it started a lot earlier, right? Sure, my parents have something to do with it. I got that part. I don't really understand it, but I got it. But now I'm talking about the night where me and some friends went to a parking lot up in Santa Ynez and someone I've known since I was a kid got his fucking head blown off. That wasn't some random crew of gang-bangers from upstate. That was you.'

  The other guy was standing still now, his back straight. He didn't look like a kid any more.

  'What's your point?'

  'My point is that you or one of those other guys killed my friend.'

  'Great work, smart-boy. Yeah. It was me. It was my shot.'

  'And so right from that night you people have been screwing me around. Pushing me in this direction and that. Fucking up my entire life.'

  'You never had a life,' the guy said, and Lee realized this person had never had anything but contempt for him. 'You've been bought and paid for since day one. Since the day you were…'

  Lee threw himself at him.

  Lee Hudek was good at fighting. Lee had what it took. He was strong and he had confidence and he was willing to hurt people. But this other guy had far more than that. He actively enjoyed it. He came back at Lee like a switch being thrown.

  Both were silent, intent, making little more than grunts. Lee's first couple of blows landed in the ballpark but after that the other man slipped into movements that only long and dedicated practice can make second nature. Lee knew enough not to try to land Hollywood-style punches. Fighting isn't about looking cool. Fighting is about fucking somebody up. Lee knew you grabbed at hair and clothes and eye sockets and tried to bring someone down to the ground as fast as possible and then got dirty with kicks and fists and any sharp objects you had to hand. But he just couldn't seem to get a hold on this guy. Wherever he went for, he just wasn't there—and in the meantime the guy was getting closer to pulling Lee down, and kept cracking Lee's face and stomach with his fists and elbows and the sides of his hands.

  Finally one of these caught Lee square in the throat and he couldn't breathe. He slipped down to one knee and had barely time to yank in one long rasping breath before a foot scythed up and caught him full across the face.

  He fell over onto his back, head spinning. He saw the other guy standing above him, a gun in his hand.

  'I'm not supposed to shoot you,' he said. He was barely out of breath. 'But I might anyway. I can always dig the bullet out.'

  'Fuck you.'

  'Yeah, right,' the guy said, and stamped on his head. And then did it again a couple more times.

  When Lee was unconscious the guy put his gun back in the pouch in his sweater, leaned down and got his hands under Hudek's armpits. He pulled him quickly up the corridor to the far end. He knew the layout of the school intimately, having studied its plans for many hours in the previous weeks. He knew exactly where he needed to go. A storage cupboard just around the corner. Wasn't supposed to happen quite like this, but he'd had no choice. It would do. It was within tolerance.

  He opened the door to the cupboard and pushed Hudek's body in. Closed the door on him, and locked it with the external bolt. Nobody would be trying to get in from the outside.

  He finished just in time, about ten seconds before he heard one of the troublesome guys from the principal's office come running in the building, shouting about fire. This was not good. The Upright Man hadn't mentioned this kind of trouble once the gig actually started, and these two guys were just not going away. These looked like they were in it for the full mile, especially the one who looked like Paul, and who he was theoretically not supposed to shoot.

  He got himself in position and reloaded his gun.
Instructions were always open to interpretation. Whatever happened next, he had no intention of dying cheaply.

  That was not what people like him did.

  Chapter 38

  I was only a few yards behind John as he ran back into the first building. He split right and I went left, opening doors and telling people to get out. Everybody kept doing what they were told. It was great. John did his half very fast, and I still wondered whether he'd seen someone and was in here partly to give chase. I left the last classroom on my corridor unopened and just banged on the door. They'd get the message—the noise of departing kids was getting loud. I pushed my way through the emerging crowds and ran up the stairs after Zandt. A whole crowd of children started rushing down as I was turning the corner, and I had to put my head down and shove up against the tide as fast as I could.

  'John?'

  'He's up here,' he shouted, heading fast down the upper corridor. I assumed he must mean the person we'd encountered in the principal's office. I pushed my way after him. Finally got to the end of the corridor and confronted a heavy door I hadn't noticed the first time.

  On the other side I found myself in another section of the building, at a right angle to the first. There was a set of three long, frosted glass windows on both sides of the corridor. More science labs.

  John was flat up against the wall, gun held against his chest. He flapped at me with his other hand, keeping it low. I got the message and moved quickly up against the wall on the other side of the corridor.

  'He's in the one on the left,' he said, quietly.

  'So leave him there.'

  John looked blankly at me.

  'I don't care about this guy,' I said. 'We just need the school cleared and locked down. The police or FBI can deal with it. I'm done here. I'm going…'

  'You've got nowhere else to go, Ward, and this guy could lead us to Paul.'

  I hesitated, and heard a clanking from within the lab. We held our breath together, guns trained on the door down the far end. Then I realized it would make sense to pick different targets and swept mine across to aim at the middle of the three opaque glass panels on that side.