“No, actually, I think we do need to be on the move… but back to the ballroom.” She hurried over to Michael. “They’ve got to listen to us now. With all this happening?”
He shook his head, though. “No. We find Quentin, and then head back.”
Cecilia put her other hand over his. “And let’s say we find Quentin in bad shape or worse. What are we going to do? We can’t even help Paula properly.” They both looked down at the unconscious girl. “This is bigger than we thought. We need help.”
He gripped her hand. “But Quentin.”
She groaned inwardly. How could she voice her fears to him? Especially with his eyes swimming in tears and his heart so heavy? She couldn’t. She couldn’t tell him she feared that his friend had already joined Helen. Her friend had told them nearly as much. And now, finding Connor and Paula? From the fragmented time line they had pieced together from Frannie, the killer had had Quentin and Helen twice the time. But she just couldn’t crush Michael in that way.
“The best way to help Quentin is to get help. Lots and lots of help.”
Michael took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, which seemed to steady his nerves. When he opened them again, he appeared stronger, more resolved. “All right, but you should stay here. If I don’t come back within a half an hour, you can try next.”
Cecilia liked the way he tried to protect her, but if he didn’t come back in half an hour, well… She doubted she would be in any condition to follow.
“Look, I’m normally the girl sitting in the back of the class hoping no one will call her name, but you can’t do this alone.”
“I can,” he tried to reassure her, but his voice trembled.
Cecilia put her hand out and cupped his face. “I know you could, but you don’t have to.”
He leaned into her palm. “I really don’t want to go out there alone, but I really don’t want you in danger.”
“I know, but I am…” Cecilia couldn’t finish the sentence. No matter how loath she was to suggest that Quentin was dead, she was even more reluctant to share her other concern. Actually, her other fear. “I think that… I think John may be behind this.”
Michael didn’t seem surprised. If anything, he seemed energized by the news. “All the more reason for you to stay here.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You thought the same thing?”
“There are all kinds of rumors at school that he’s doping, and that the guy has got some serious mommy issues.” He looked down at Connor, Frannie, and Paula. “But as much as I hate the guy, it’s hard to imagine him doing this. All of this.”
A few days ago Cecilia would have agreed, but after today? She had never seen so much rage before. Seeing John’s face contorted and blotched red, Cecilia could imagine him doing this just a little bit.
“Which is why I can’t let you go alone,” Cecilia said, stroking his cheek with her thumb.
He leaned in. She could feel his breath upon her skin. His warmth mingled with hers. His lips hovered over hers.
“So are you two going, or what?” Connor asked.
Michael backed away, blushing. “Yeah. Yeah. We’re going.”
But as he turned back to their friends, he caught Cecilia’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Look, guys, we are going to have to take the flashlight.”
“But… but… that’s going to leave us in the dark,” Frannie said, looking ready to go all panicky again.
Connor pulled Frannie closer to him. “We can handle it. Just haul ass like you were stealing home base, man.”
“You know it,” Michael said, and then his voice became serious. “Frannie, I need you to buck up, girl, for just a minute and push that dresser in front of the door after we leave.”
Frannie, though, perked up, seeming to love the idea. Cecilia pulled Frannie into a hug. She wanted to stay hopeful, but this might be the last time they saw one another. What was the last thing she had said to Helen? That she was a hair spray addict? She didn’t want those to be her last words to Frannie.
“Francesca,” Cecilia started, but her friend hugged her all the closer.
“No. We are not going to have a Titanic moment here.” Frannie said. “You are going out and coming back. Got it?”
Cecilia held back tears. “Got it.”
She turned back to Michael, but Frannie grabbed her hand. “And if you find any chicken wings…”
“I’ll be sure to get ranch dressing,” Cecilia replied
Her friend gave a faint smile as Michael cracked the door open. He looked down both ways. “It looks clear.”
Taking his hand, they exited. No sooner was her foot past the threshold that Frannie slammed the door closed behind them, locked it, and from the rumbling was moving the dresser already.
“Guess it’s just you and me,” Michael commented, with a faint smile on his lips.
Cecilia wished she could answer, but an overwhelming urge to bang on the door and force Frannie to open it back up nearly overtook her.
But one foot after the other, they slowly they made their way back down the hall. It was easy to tell that they were on the right track as they followed the blood-smeared footprints of Connor. Michael swung the flashlight back and forth, sweeping the light in front of them. He would even turn suddenly behind them, flashing the light, checking for someone following them. Cecilia wished she could call him paranoid, but not after the night they’d had.
Finally, they made it to a junction in the halls. Suddenly, the floor seemed to sparkle, making their thin flashlight beam become a thousand prisms of light. They knelt. Glass covered the floor. He flashed the light ahead. The broken shards extended down the entire length, farther than the eye could see.
“There are nails in there, too.” Michael said, shining his light on the tiny metal nails. It would take us forever to try and pick our way back down the hall.”
“But … We were just here,” Cecilia said, still trying to accept the new reality.
“He must have been following us,” Michael said, his voice sounding as shaky as her body felt.
She didn’t want to voice her thoughts. “Why didn’t he just attack us, then?
“I don’t know,” Michael said as he stood up. “I think he might be herding us.” He swung his light down the unexplored passage. “Down there.”
Why did that hallway seem about ten thousand times scarier? The walls were the same dusty wood paneling. The sconces were still rusted. But what menace lay at the end of the hallway, where murky shadows played just beyond Michael’s light?
“We could stay here,” Michael suggested. “Go back to Frannie and the rest.”
A part of her really wanted to embrace that idea. The girl she was this morning would have jumped at the chance to huddle in the corner, hoping and wishing the fear to go away. The girl she was tonight? Well, she wasn’t brave by any means. However, the thought of sitting in the near-dark waiting for that hawk-masked man to jump from the shadows seemed the scarier option.
Well, at least a little scarier.
* * *
Paxton rushed after Ruth as they approached the backstage door. A roadie tried to block Ruth, but she flashed her badge. The guy wouldn’t budge, though. Paxton pulled back the edge of his very wet coat and indicated his gun.
Yeah, the guy moved for that.
“Smart choice,” Paxton said as they passed.
Rapidly, they made their way past a thousand struts and cords.
But another half dozen roadies wearing black eyeliner made a wall of stupid human flesh, blocking Ruth and Paxton from getting up onstage. Their options were limited. They only had two cuffs each. Which left two idiotic roadies to cause problems.
Ruth cocked her head. “I say we play a little chicken.”
Oh, how Paxton loved how his partner thought. He doubted any guy that used hair spray would actually stand strong.
“I second that.”
Without hesitating, Ruth and Paxton strode forward. The roadies tried to protect their demon-wo
rshipping master, but, after all, they were roadies for a demon-worshipping master. Not the brightest or hardiest of roadies, as far as roadies went.
Paxton had to give them credit that they stood fast until Ruth was about a foot away, and then they broke rank. Actually they stumbled and scrambled out of rank. Paxton seriously doubted if the Stones’ roadies would have let them pass quite so easily.
Once past the “front lines,” Ruth led the way onto the stage. However, getting to Diana Dahmer was more difficult than she expected, as the agile singer jumped from speaker to speaker, belting out what passed for music at this soiree.
“Sir, I must ask you to get down!” Ruth screamed, but who could hear her over the fingernails-down-a-chalkboard sound coming out of the speakers?
Speakers.
Paxton was a youth once, with his fair share of delinquency. Rock ‘n’ roll was such a cooler act of rebellion. He ran over to the first amp and jerked out the wires connecting it to the microphone.
A loud pop interrupted Dahmer mid-chorus. Paxton charged over to the next speaker and pulled that one out as well.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dahmer yelled.
Up close, the singer truly looked scary. Not as in terrifying, but as in a “what in the hell were you thinking?” kind of way. Red contacts seemed to glow against the white makeup that painted his face. But the man beneath the makeup was gaunt and actually frail—like an underweight spider monkey.
But the guy had a set of lungs on him. He yelled again, “Do not mess with my equipment!”
Paxton ignored him and crossed the stage to the other speakers, pulling out each of their cords. The only sound filling the great ballroom now was the crowd’s booing.
Ruth got up in Dahmer’s face. “Police. You will exit the stage now, or be arrested for…”
“Stupidity?” Paxton added.
Ruth frowned at him. “Obstructing justice. Now move.”
“This is complete bull!” Dahmer yelled. Now without his microphone, Dahmer’s voice sounded tinny. “I’ve got a show to put on!”
“Not anymore.” Paxton stated. “Everyone backstage.”
But Dahmer charged forward, wrists offered up. “Go ahead. Arrest me!” He opened his arms to the rapt audience. “It’ll make great press.”
“I’ll show you press,” Paxton said under his breath, but Ruth grabbed his arm.
Dahmer just ate it up, though. “Go ahead! Police brutality will be my next Top Ten hit!”
Ruth seemed to keep her temper, though, as she stepped closer to Dahmer. She indicated the screaming, wailing, and flailing fans trying to claw their way onstage. “I don’t think you want me to arrest you and some of your more zealous fans.”
“Go ahead. They will eat it up.”
Ruth’s tone lowered, but nothing was timid about her words. “I know. And then we will put you in a cell with all those kids who eat up every word you write about torture and human sacrifice. I’d love to see how that goes for ya.”
Dahmer’s red eyes flickered right, then left, then back down to the maniacal crowd.
Ruth’s words were barely above a whisper. “Help me get them under control, or I swear, you will be getting to know your fans up close and personal.”
Paxton knew that they had broken Dahmer before the singer even realized it. The guy’s shoulders slumped as his nostrils pinched closed.
“Fine. But my manager will be talking to your captain.”
“Awww. I’m trembling at the thought,” Paxton grumbled as he urged the other band members off the stage.
Ruth went to the microphone. “I’m sorry, but the concert has been …”
She stopped. The crowd drowned her out. Paxton rushed over and plugged the mic’s feed back in—grateful for the skills his youthful indiscretions brought him.
“I know that this sucks, but we need everyone—”
Even with the mic, the audience’s boos overran her.
Dahmer turned toward the mic. Paxton went to block him, but Ruth shook her head. “Let him.”
Ruth whispered harshly to Dahmer, “Calm the crowd, or your cell will be the size of a closet.”
And maybe they would throw Darby in there as well, just as a kicker, Paxton thought. If they didn’t get this crowd under control soon, it would turn into a mob. And no matter that the police got a mob under control. Injuries, and even death, were always present. A stampede, even by human feet, could easily crush people. Forget the killer. More people could die in a stage crush than at the hands of a madman.
Dahmer sneered at Ruth as he took the mic. “Fans! Worshippers! True Believers!”
Paxton had to grab a girder as the stage shook with the crowd’s response.
“There are times to fight, but tonight is not yet ripe.” Despite the crowd’s boos, Dahmer still stalked the stage. “Follow these unredeemed souls. Pretend you are sheep, but know the wolf beneath will soon be released!”
He went to hand Ruth the microphone back, but the detective crossed her arms.
Dahmer leaned low over the side of the stage. “But you must wait for my signal. Until then, behave!”
The crowd milled a bit, but the overhead lighting finally came back on and the audience dispersed. Especially after someone shouted, “Fresh chicken wings!” from the back of the ballroom.
Paxton breathed a sigh of relief.
Now they just needed to capture the saint-obsessed serial killer.
As Jeremy would say, No biggie.
* * *
Cecilia jumped as a creak sounded overhead. Now that the concert wasn’t going full blast, every little sound made her flinch. It was almost better when the walls shook from the bass. At least then, you could chalk a noise up to Diana Dahmer. Now, though, each and every squeak of a baseboard seemed to be a sure sign that the killer was nearly on top of them.
“This sounded so good in theory,” Cecilia said, mainly to fill the emptiness that threatened to consume her.
“Yeah. Being noble sucks.”
She grinned at Michael. Out of all of this, he was the biggest surprise. He hadn’t left her. He hadn’t wavered during this whole grotesque night. She was about to tell him so when a muffled yell came from down the hallway. Cecilia squeezed Michael’s hand so hard that she feared she would cut off the circulation.
“What do we do?” Cecilia whispered.
Then a girl’s scream cut through the walls.
They both ran forward as a half-naked girl burst from a room. Blood spattered the side of her face as she screamed.
“Annette?” Cecilia asked. It was hard to tell, but it looked like a girl in her trigonometry class.
The girl just screamed again, clutched her broken bra strap, and ran.
“Wait!” Michael called out, but she was gone around the corner. “Well, at least she’s healthy enough to be able to run.”
“We’d better catch up with—” Cecilia was interrupted as John charged out of the room. His unbuttoned shirt flapped at his side, and his belt hung loose.
Michael shoved Cecilia behind him as John turned on them. His features knotted in anger. “What are you looking at?”
Cecilia stepped out from Michael’s shadow. “Probably at the bloodstain on your shirt.”
“Cec?” John blinked twice as his features softened. “What’re you doing here?”
“Better question—what are you doing here, John?” Michael asked. “And where’s your costume?”
Fury returned to the jock’s face as he turned to Michael. “I’d leave now, bitch, and not look back.”
Cecilia watched in horror as John’s hands balled up into fists. His arms shook as he backed up a step, like a snorting bull getting ready to take out the matador. She grabbed Michael’s arm.
“Come on.”
Michael stood his ground, though, clinging to his only weapon—the lamp they had stolen from a room. “Go.”
But she couldn’t leave him here. She knew exactly how she would feel if she found Michael like she
had Helen. Slashed and crucified. “No.”
“Damn it, go!” Michael yelled, as John charged forward.
Seeing the whites of John’s eyes, Cecilia nearly balked. She would never know whether she would have stood her ground, since the floor beneath them cracked. Then the hallway between them and John exploded. Cecilia’s hands flew up to protect her face as chunks of wood rushed past them.
Smoke stung her eyes as a ring of fire rose from the edge of the hole. Heat shimmered, distorting John’s already tangled features. His chest rose and fell as he prepared to make the leap across.
Michael snatched her hand. “We’ve got to jump.”
“No!” Cecilia cried, unwilling to face that wall of flame.
“That’s the stage level down there. We’ve got to.”
Choking on the smoke, Cecilia felt panic rise. They couldn’t go back the way they came—not unless they wanted to run across the glass and nails. And she couldn’t draw John back to Frannie and the others.
Finally, Cecilia nodded.
Michael counted down. “One. Two …”
Cecilia was prepared when Michael leapt long before he said three. Instead of being terrified, though, Cecilia was struck by the beauty of it all. The flames flickered as they passed, as if they were being reborn in fire. Air caught her dress, making it flap, as it would from a warm summer breeze. And for the first time in a while, things were actually light enough for her to see.
Of course, then they hit the next level, really, really hard. Her ankle buckled and she banged her elbow, but considering they were falling through fire with a serial killer on their tail, it wasn’t all that bad.
Michael staggered up, seemingly a little dazed. A bright gash seeped on his forehead. But Cecilia was more concerned as she looked up to find John framed in flame.
She grabbed Michael’s wrist and tugged at him. “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
As they fled down the hallway, Cecilia risked a glance over her shoulder. Just as they turned the corner, a large figure jumped down, hitting the floor hard.
Michael listed to the side as she tried to get him to pick up speed.
With Michael injured, could they outrun death?
* * *
Ruth coughed, still pointing toward the exit. “You have got to get them out in an orderly fashion,” she said to the security chief. “We do not want anyone trampled. The fire is still contained—”
Down & Dirty: A McCray Crime Collection Page 15