Hosts

by F. Paul Wilson

  Together they'd made a good living. It was never personal. Somebody not making payments, somebody skimming too much, somebody talking too much, somebody at a point where he figured he'd been paying into his fire insurance policy long enough and decided it was time to make a withdrawal, they called Stan and Joe Koz.

  They'd been a perfect team: Stan planned, Joe planted, and they took turns fashioning the bombs or mixing the accelerant.

  Then "our guy" came along, interfered with their latest job—which turned out to be their last—causing a major botch that made them look worse than no-talent amateurs.

  But that hadn't been the worst. Somehow he'd followed them back to their farm up in Ulster County and torched the house and the barn where they stored their C-4 and accelerants. And most of their cash.

  Joe had ruined his hand and almost got killed trying to save that. And he'd failed.

  But things got even worse. An investigation showed that the barn had housed a bomb-making operation; BATF was brought in and that was when the warrants started. Stan and joe had owned the place in another guy's name but he'd rolled over in a heartbeat when the feds came knocking. RICO statutes got invoked and everything they'd owned wound up impounded.

  Plus Joe couldn't get his hand fixed because that kind of plastic surgery wasn't exactly done in back rooms, and hospitals asked too many questions.

  Finally, now, no one would hire them. Like they were dead. Worse than dead. Like they'd never existed. Like, the Kozlowski brothers? Who they? Never heard of them.

  All because of one guy. Our guy.

  But Stan was not convinced that he and this so-called Savior were the same.

  "I want him too, Joe. And if this Savior guy turns out to be him, fine. We'll get him. Together. But not in a way that's going to point a finger at us. We'll do him the way he did us: mess him up and then disappear without a trace."

  "You're worried about attention? I want attention. I want everyone to know who did him and why. Because he took everything from us, Stan. Remember how we used to be? We was hot. We was Tiffany. We wore Armani to the fucking gym! We used to watch our ankles through our socks. Remember that?"

  Stan remembered, but why dwell on it. "At least we're not doing time."

  "Time? We are doing time! A jolt in the joint would be better'n this. This isn't living, it's fucking hell. No, wait. If hell was a shit-filled toilet with a broken flusher in the dysentery capital of India, I'd take it over this. You got that?"

  "Joe—"

  "A guy with a combo of AIDS, brain cancer, and a colostomy's got it better'n us. No, Stan. I call the shots on this one. This gives me first dibs."

  He held up his maimed left hand, thumb extended, the scar-fused fingers forming a shiny pink V. Someone seeing him do that on the street once had called out, "Live long and prosper," and Stan had had to pull Joe off the guy before he killed him.

  "When I find the fucker I'm gonna tie him in a chair and get me a blow torch and make his whole face look like this."

  2

  Kate stood in the bedroom doorway and blinked at the sight of Jeanette smiling at her from the rocker in the sunny front room.

  "Look who's a sleepyhead," Jeanette said pleasantly.

  "Jeanette… you're…"

  "Sitting and having coffee. Want some?"

  Which Jeanette was this? Friendly though she seemed, it wasn't Jeanette number one, the one she loved; and it wasn't the silent and sullen number two. Could some third personality be emerging?

  "No thanks. My stomach doesn't feel so hot."

  In fact Kate's entire body didn't feel so hot. Chilled, rather. And achy. She'd been exhausted when she returned last night and had fallen into bed almost immediately. She still felt tired. She blamed that on the weird dreams that had haunted her all night. She couldn't recall any details beyond the fact that she'd awakened several times sweaty and unsettled.

  "I thought you'd be upset about last night. I didn't mean to pry, but I'm concerned. I'm more than concerned, Jeanette. I'm worried sick."

  "I know you are," Jeanette said. "I was pretty angry the other night, but now I realize you're doing it out of love. But don't worry yourself, Kate. I'm fine, really I am. And I've never been happier."

  "But Jeanette, you're not… you."

  Jeanette smiled warmly. "Who else could I be? I know it seems confusing now, Kate, but soon you'll understand. Soon everything will be made clear."

  "By whom?" Kate said, wandering over to the kitchen area.

  "It will come from within." She began to laugh—a good-natured laugh without a hint of derision.

  "What's so funny?"

  "I just made a joke."

  "I don't get it."

  A beatific smile. "You will, Kate. You will."

  Kate noticed a jar of Sanka on the kitchen counter.

  "Decaf?" she said. "Since when?"

  "Since today. I think I might be drinking too much caffeine. Maybe that's what happened to me yesterday. I got a little wired."

  The Jeanette Kate knew could barely move until she'd had her morning coffee.

  "That was a lot more than caffeine overload."

  "Kate, how many times do I have to tell you I'm fine?"

  "But you're not fine. Dr. Fielding told me the vector virus mutated and you and the others may be infected with it."

  She went on to explain the details of Fielding's story.

  Jeanette seemed blithely indifferent. "A mutation? Is that what he thinks? How interesting."

  "It's not interesting, Jeanette," Kate said, restraining herself from screaming the words. "It's potentially catastrophic! How can you just sit there? If someone told me I had a mutant virus crawling around my brain I'd be on the next plane to Atlanta and the CDC!"

  "Has it occurred to you that Dr. Fielding might be wrong?"

  That brought Kate up short, but only for a second. "A mutation in a recombinant vector virus is so unusual, I'm certain he wouldn't have told us if he weren't one hundred percent sure."

  "But wouldn't I be sick?"

  You are sick, Kate thought.

  "Poor Kate." Jeanette smiled sympathetically. "Getting yourself all worked up. Why not just calm down and let Dr. Fielding worry about it?"

  "Well, at least he won't be worrying alone. He's called NIH; you should be hearing from them soon. And he's already working on a way to treat the new infection."

  "Kill the virus?" Jeanette said. She lost her smile.

  "Of course."

  "Even if I'm suffering no ill effects?"

  "He infected you with the virus, so he's got to eradicate it. He can't very well leave you infected."

  Jeanette sat silent, staring at the wall.

  Is it finally sinking in? Kate thought. She prayed Jeanette was appreciating at last how serious this was.

  Finally she looked at Kate again. "Who was that other man with Dr. Fielding last night?"

  The abrupt shift of subject left Kate a little dizzy. "Man? Oh, that was my younger brother Jack."

  Jeanette smiled. "Your brother… not much of a family resemblance."

  How would Jeanette know? She hadn't come to the door with Holdstock. Had she been peeking through a window?

  "Will he be working with Dr. Fielding?" Jeanette said.

  "I don't think so."

  She don't know much about Jack's talents, but she doubted they lay in virology. He might wind up helping in other ways, though. She could see now how she might need him to come between Jeanette and Holdstock.

  "I'd like to meet him," Jeanette said. "Does he know about you and me?"

  Kate shook her head and felt that familiar tightening in her chest whenever she considered the prospect of coming out to anyone, especially a member of her family. She'd felt it last night when Jack had said that he thought it was about time he met this Jeanette. Kate had agreed but ducked setting a time and place.

  "No. And I'd rather he didn't."

  "Okay. We'll just be friends then."

  More proof that
Jeanette was not herself. The real Jeanette would have launched into a mini-lecture. She'd been out since her teens and fervently believed the closet should be a thing of the past. Not that Jeanette didn't appreciate the risks for someone in Kate's position, especially where child custody might be an issue. But here in this big city far away from Trenton, she'd have wanted Kate to come out to her brother, or at the very least consider it.

  Okay. We'll just befriends. Uh-uh. That wasn't Jeanette. Not even close.

  Jeanette added, "Why not invite him over for dinner tonight?"

  "You're sure you don't have to go out?"

  To another séance with your cult?

  "I'd much rather meet your brother."

  This third Jeanette was certainly easier to deal with than the second… but she still wasn't the real one, and Lord how Kate missed her.

  "Jack's seeing a woman," Kate said. "He might want to bring her."

  "Sure. I love to meet new people."

  This could make for one strange evening, Kate thought. But on the positive side, she'd get to meet—what was her name? Gia. Such a warm light in her brother's eyes when he'd mentioned her. Kate wanted to meet the woman who had captured his heart.

  3

  Sandy felt good as he walked the West Eighties. No, check that, he felt totally fabulous. Life was da bomb. His ship was coming in. He could sense it just over the horizon, steaming his way.

  Yesterday he'd been trudging door to door, store to store, dogged by a cloud of futility and a subvocal dirge droning on and on through his head about how he was attempting the impossible. Today he was bouncing along past the brownstones on the side streets and the endless variety of restaurants and shops along the avenues, grinning like an idiot.

  "Beth," he whispered. He loved her name, the sound of it, the feel of it on his lips and tongue. "Beth-Beth-Beth-Beth-Beth."

  They'd made love last night. Not just sex—love. Sweet and tender.

  Not just two bodies, but two people with a connection. This morning they'd made love again, and it was even better.

  After sitting in a coffee shop where they'd talked and talked, they'd split: Beth to a workshop and Sandy to the streets—he was still on sick leave; he just had to hope he didn't run into anyone from The Light while he was pounding the pavement.

  He hated to leave her but all play and no work would very definitely make Sandy a dull boy. Very dull. But he and Beth would reunite tonight for dinner… and more.

  As for the last forty-eight hours, Sandy could draw only one conclusion: anything was possible. And all things do come to those who wait.

  That didn't make the task of finding the Savior any less daunting, but today he felt sure he'd succeed. He didn't know how long it would take but if he kept plugging he'd win the respect and renown he'd dreamed of. All he had to do was be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day.

  He stopped before a bar named Julio's that sported a bunch of dead plants hanging in the window. The door stood open so Sandy stepped through. The dim interior, redolent of tobacco smoke and spilled beer, was bigger than he'd expected. The short bar curved around on his left; a sign hung over the stacked rows of liquor bottles: FREE BEER TOMORROW… He smiled; he liked that. But what was with all the dead plants?

  Despite the early hour nearly half a dozen men stood at the bar smoking and sipping drafts. Sandy hesitated, then stepped up and placed his Identi-Kit printout before the nearest drinker.

  "I'm looking for this man."

  The fellow glanced at Sandy, then down at the printout, then back at Sandy. He had a worn middle-aged face, wore dusty work pants and a faded T-shirt that might have once sported a logo of some sort. A shot and most of an eight-ounce draft sat before him on the bar.

  "Who the hell are you?"

  Sandy was used to suspicious reactions. He went into his patter.

  "I've been hired by the executor of his uncle's estate to find him. He's come into some money."

  The man's eye's narrowed. "What's in it for me?"

  Sandy couldn't count how many times he'd been asked that since he started searching. He'd finally come up with a reply that worked.

  "Nothing from me, I'm afraid. I'm paid by the day. But that doesn't mean you can't work something out with this guy if you know him."

  The man leaned toward Sandy. "You came to the right place," he whispered, his eyes shifting back and forth, his breath so sour Sandy had to grip the bar to keep from recoiling. "He's here right now."

  Sandy jerked up straight and looked around. Oh, Christ! He's here? Right here?

  But he saw no one who even vaguely resembled the man on the train.

  "Where?"

  "Right next to me!" the man said, then burst into a raucous laugh as he grabbed the printout and turned to his neighbor. "Ain't this you, Barney? Tell this fella here it's you and we'll both be rich!"

  "Yeah that's me!" Barney cried. " 'Cept I'm better lookin'!"

  Bastards, Sandy thought as they passed the sheet down the bar and back. Some of the others laughed, others just stared at him.

  He held out his hand. "Very funny. Can I have it back now?"

  "Naw," said the first drinker. "We're gonna keep this. Maybe start doin' our own search. Got any more?"

  "That's my only one." Sandy had four more folded in his pocket but he wasn't about to let them know. "Please. I need it."

  Barney said, "Hey, Lou, you know what I think? I think we should put my phone number on this, take it over to Staples, and get a hundred copies made. We plaster them all over the place and collect the reward."

  No! Sandy thought, feeling a surge of panic. He couldn't lose control of that picture. It was his key!

  "There is no reward! Now give it to me!"

  He tried to grab the printout, reaching for it, but Lou roughly shoved his arm away.

  "Watch it, kid. You spill my beer and I drink the next one out of your empty skull!"

  "That's mine and I want it back!" Sandy said, his voice rising of its own accord. If he had to fight these old bastards he would. No one was going to screw up his future.

  "Hey-hey!" said a new voice. '"What's going on, meng?"

  Sandy looked around and saw a short muscular Hispanic in a sleeveless sweatshirt.

  "Hey, Julio," Lou said, handing him the printout. "Fella here's lookin' for this guy. You ever seen him?"

  Julio—Sandy assumed he was the Julio this dive was named after—said nothing for a long time, slowly smoothing his pencil-line mustache with his free hand as he stared at the paper. Then, without looking up, he began peppering Sandy with questions about who and why and what reward. Sandy gave his standard replies but they didn't seem to be flying.

  "Yeah, I seen him," Julio said, finally looking at Sandy. His eyes were piercingly dark.

  Sandy saw truth in those eyes and felt his heart pick up tempo.

  "Where?"

  "Not sure. Around. Tell you what, meng. I do you a favor. I hang this up by the bar and if anybody knows him, they call you. What your number?"

  Sandy was about to give it to him when he noticed that Barney and Lou had somehow managed to position themselves between him and the door. And the three other men at the bar had all stopped talk and were staring his way.

  Menace writhed through the air… something going on here…

  "I…" Think. Think! "This is kind of embarrassing… I've been a little short lately and so my service was canceled."

  "Too bad. You got more of these?"

  "Not on me."

  "Where you live?"

  Sandy was alarmed at where these questions were going… they all seemed aimed at pinning down his location when they should have been about locating the man on the printout. What had he stumbled into here?

  "I'm staying with a friend. She… she wouldn't like me giving out her address."

  Oh, shit! he thought, wishing he could take that back. That didn't go with his story about his phone being turned off.

  "I thinking now," Julio said. "I think I remem
ber seeing this guy a lot in the park."

  "What park? Central?'* That wasn't much help.

  "No. Riverside."

  That was even worse. Riverside Park ran along the Hudson for miles, from the Seventies up past the GW Bridge.

  "Any particular area of the park?"

  "Yeah. I think I seen him playing basketball a couple time. Right down here."

  "This end of the park? Great."

  "Yeah. You look there. Maybe you run into him."

  "Thanks a lot." Sandy reached out a tentative hand. "Can I have my drawing back?"

  "No," Julio said, folding it and sticking it in his back pocket. "I think I keep this one."

  Sandy was about to protest but something in the little man's face told him that would be futile.

  "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't show that around until I find that man and talk to him."

  "If that is your wish."

  The reply startled Sandy. Why so agreeable all of a sudden?

  Julio made a tight, almost imperceptible sweeping motion with his right hand and Sandy heard Lou and Barney move back to the bar.

  Julio grinned. "And when you find this guy, you tell him Julio sent you and he wants ten percent, you hear?"

  "You got it," Sandy said.

  He turned and practically leaped through the door to the safety of the sidewalk. He headed west without a look back.

  Glad to be out of that place. All sorts of undercurrents flowing through it. Probably something illegal going on and he'd riled their suspicions.

  But no matter. He'd got the break he'd been praying for. And Riverside Park was only a few blocks ahead.

  Anticipation spurred him into an easy trot.

  4

  "Your sister?" Gia said, her blue eyes wide.

  "The one and only."

  Jack tapped the Crown Vic's steering wheel in mild frustration; they'd zipped out of the airport parking area but now the Grand Central Parkway was moving at a geriatric pace.

  He'd picked up Gia and Vicky at LaGuardia after their flight in from Des Moines. Jack was stirred at how much these two meant to him. The anxiety he'd felt before the plane landed, his impatience when they weren't the first off, and then the throat-tightening burst of pleasure when they appeared: Gia, trim and leggy in jeans and a pink T-shirt, and eight-year-old Vicky running to him, dark brown braids bouncing behind her; picking her up, swinging her around, then hugs and kisses from both of his ladies. He still carried the glow.