The Wicked Page 6

  It had Tony Leoni’s face, that one. Billy would recognize his best friend anywhere.

  The last thing Billy saw before his life ebbed away, before the poison sluicing through his body stopped his heart completely, was the old man with the beard. The things suddenly ceased their assault and hovered a few feet in the air above him. Waiting patiently. Obeying. Their long goatees swished back and forth like hairy pendulums ticking away the last few seconds of Billy Dawson’s life. In one perfectly straight line they floated, like some unholy phalanx of trilling insectoid soldiers.

  The old man was nude. He was taller than any person Billy had ever seen. His flesh was gray, like something long-dead, and covered with leaking white sores. His nose was beakish, vulture-like, and his beard coiled around behind him, trailing back into the meadow from where he had come. His eyes were black as sin, and far older even than the rest of him.

  He smelled like something burning.

  As Billy Dawson died, he saw those ghastly winged creatures disappear one by one into the old man’s matted, infinite beard. It parted for each of them with a low rustle.

  The old man opened his mouth wide, and the darkness inside was as deep and black as the impenetrable void of his eyes. His sigh of unholy ecstasy flew aloft upon the day’s growing breeze, traveling through the town common and beyond, as he digested the boy’s sweet, warm soul...and the taste was so exquisite.

  CHAPTER 8

  Shortly after breakfast, Joel came to visit. David and Kate heard his arrival before they saw his black Mustang screech to a stop alongside the curb out front; Kate’s younger brother was fond of showing off his ridiculously expensive stereo system.

  They walked out on their front porch to meet Joel. Kate was barely able to contain her excitement as he approached them. Becca, meanwhile, was too young to bother with subtlety. She burst through the screen door, a blur of golden tresses, and leapt upon her uncle, smothering him with hugs.

  “Whoa!” Joel said beneath the assault. A wide smile stretched across his tan face. “Death by seven-year-old!” Giggles filled the air between them as he hoisted his niece into the air, spinning her round and round until she grew dizzy.

  Joel was Kate’s only brother, her junior by four years. They had been quite close throughout their childhood, but several months after graduating from NYU Joel moved to North Carolina. That had been five years ago, after his own terrible ordeal in the Big Apple. Joel loved it down here, and he had been trying to talk Kate and her family into joining him for several years. His smile said it all as he stared up at his sister on the front porch, his arm stretched as far as it would stretch as Becca’s tiny heels dug into the soft ground and attempted to drag him toward the tire swing in the corner of their yard.

  “Uncle Joel! Uncle Joel!” Becca chanted. “Will you push me?”

  “Wait a minute, sweetie—”

  “It’s been a long time since Mommy and Uncle Joel have seen one another,” Kate said. “Give us a few minutes to catch up before you kidnap him, okay?”

  “Awww,” Becca fussed. She followed her uncle onto the porch, never letting go of his hand as if he might disappear.

  “Wow,” said Joel. He stood back, eyeing Kate’s massive belly with mock-amazement. “I guess calling you my big sister is truer than ever these days.”

  David laughed. “Careful, man, you’ll give her a complex.”

  Kate rolled her eyes, dismissed Joel’s joke with a wave of her hand. “Come here, you.”

  “God, I’ve missed you so much,” Joel said. He embraced her, his voice muffled as he buried his face in her neck.

  “Easy now,” Kate reminded him beneath his tight squeeze.

  For a minute David wondered if the two would ever stop hugging. He popped his knuckles, fidgeting as he watched their exchange. Not that he minded their show of affection. He knew how long it had been since Kate had seen her brother, and he was glad to see Joel as well. For the most part.

  “Hey, David,” Joel said, at last releasing his sister. “It’s good to see you, man.”

  He moved to hug David then, but David stuck out his hand. A harmless gesture, albeit a bit too quick. Still, Joel’s arm went to David’s back, pulled him into a sort of half-hug as they shook.

  David cleared his throat, took a step back once he was free. “It’s been a while. You, uh...you look good, man.”

  “Thanks, David. So do you. Both of you. You look fantastic.”

  “Oh, Joel.” Kate moved to hug her brother again. Her eyes were moist. “If you only knew how much I’ve missed you!”

  “The feeling’s mutual, sis.” He returned Kate’s hug, then reached down, and Becca jumped into his arms. “How’s my little bug-a-boo?”

  “Fiiine,” Becca said bashfully, looking everywhere but in the three adults’ faces as she again became the focus of attention.

  Joel’s hand came up before his face, his index finger and thumb extended a half-inch apart. “Do you realize the last time I saw you, you were only this big?”

  “I’m seven now, Uncle Joel!”

  “I know. Growin’ like a weed. Before you know it, Daddy’s gonna be fighting the guys off with a stick.”

  David raised an eyebrow, grinned mischievously.

  “Did you bring me a present, Uncle Joel?” Becca asked.

  Kate gasped.

  “Becca!” David scolded. “That’s not a very polite thing to ask, now is it?”

  “Oh, it’s okay,” said Joel. “As a matter of fact...”

  Becca’s grin stretched from ear-to-ear.

  “I made a new friend on my way over, guys.” Joel winked at David and Kate. “I know you’re not supposed to pick up hitchhikers, but this guy was so cute I couldn’t help myself. Why don’t you help him out of the car, Becca?”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. He’s in the passenger seat.”

  “Yayy!” Becca sprinted off across the yard, and the adults laughed as they watched her go.

  With Becca out of earshot, Joel turned to his brother-in-law and said in a low voice, “Heard you had a bit of excitement last night, David.”

  “Yeah. You could say that.”

  “It’s a shame. Simms was good people.”

  Witnessing the uncomfortable look on his brother-in-law’s face, Joel trailed off. David obviously didn’t want to talk about the scene he had witnessed with George Heatherly.

  “How are things?” Kate asked her brother. “Do you still like your job?”

  Joel nodded. “It’s not bad. Since Dr. B passed away, I’m basically all the county has ‘til they can find a replacement.”

  “Ah. I forget, what did you say happened to him?”

  “Heart attack. It happened two nights after Heller Home burned down.”

  “That’s terrible,” Kate said.

  “Hell of an opportunity for me, though,” Joel said. “I know that sounds terrible, but shit...”

  “Language,” Kate said.

  “Anyway...I’m sorry you had to see that on your first night in Morganville, David.”

  “So am I,” David said.

  “Oh, coooool!” Becca shouted a few seconds later, her high-pitched voice echoing across the yard as she found her prize inside Uncle Joel’s shiny Mustang. “Mommy, Daddy, look!”

  She pulled a huge stuffed animal from the passenger seat. A pink bunny, nearly larger than herself. It took the child some effort to carry it, but in her excitement she hefted the stuffed animal in the air proudly, waddled across the yard with it. The adults laughed as they watched the seven-year-old struggle under the massive bunny all the way to the porch. She nearly teetered over backward beneath its weight as she ascended the steps. Joel moved to help her, but Becca’s body language made it obvious that she wished to do it all by herself.

  Joel stood back, out of her way, then informed his niece that this particular bunny’s name was “Lucky.”

  “Lucky,” Becca said. “I like that. He’s so cool, Uncle Joel!”

  “What
do you say, honey?” David asked.

  “Thanks, Uncle Joel, you’re the greatest!”

  “Yeah, well...” Joel blushed slightly as he pushed Becca’s golden curls back behind her shoulders. “I’m glad you like him, sweetie.”

  “Lucky,” Becca said again, lost in her own little world now as she and the bunny moved to one side of the porch to carry on some imagined conversation.

  “They don’t get much cuter than that, do they, guys?”

  “They sure don’t,” David agreed.

  While Joel was in no way a big man, in comparison five-foot-nine David seemed much shorter than his true height when the two stood side by side. Joel had always been tall, Kate remembered, and one of the skinniest kids in school. These days, however, he had become quite the fitness freak, and his body showed hints of newfound muscle definition since the last time the Littles had seen him. Today he wore a sleeveless white GOLD’S GYM T-shirt. His knee-length shorts were black denim, very tight. He kept his sandy-blond hair neatly styled, short on top but clean and wavy past his ears, just shy of his shoulders. A neat five o’clock-shadow around his jawline. Joel wore glasses, the transitional kind, so in today’s light their lenses were dark brown. Around his neck he wore a thin gold chain. A small black pager was attached to his belt.

  David couldn’t help but notice the new tattoo Joel had gotten on his left bicep since his last visit back home. It was his only one to date, which made it all the more conspicuous although it was no more than an inch or so wide and just as tall. The tattoo consisted of a thin black “M” framed within a five-pointed star.

  David was quite sure he knew what that single letter stood for: MICHAEL.

  Cute.

  David quickly transformed his frown back into a smile. Joel hadn’t seen that fleeting expression of distaste anyway—he glanced out over the yard, shielding his eyes from the sun as his glasses grew lighter in the shade of the porch.

  “Man-oh-man, it’s gonna be a beautiful day,” Joel said.

  “No kidding,” said Kate. With a tilt of her head, she gestured toward a mound of gray slush at the corner of their property, against the curb. “Hard to believe it’s December. It feels like spring! And to think you guys had a bit of snow just a few days ago.”

  “That’s North Carolina for ya, sis,” Joel said. “The winters are always unpredictable. But that’s a good thing. One day it’s snowing, next day it’s nice enough to wear shorts out.” He ran a hand down one of his bare legs, fingering the material of his own short pants. “You guys are gonna love it here.”

  For a minute or two, no one said anything. Kate and Joel just stared at one another, so glad to be reunited.

  Kate said, “There’s so much to talk about, I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Jeez, I know,” said Joel. “It’s so good to see you, sis. You too, David.”

  “Well, hell,” David said, turning at last to open the screen door. “What are we waiting for? Come on in and see the place, Joel.”

  “Uncle Joel! Come see my new room! Come see my Barbies!” Becca exclaimed, running into the house ahead of him. As was typical of a child her age, she had already forgotten Lucky in favor of another favorite plaything of the moment. The rabbit crumpled behind her on the corner of the porch, one fluffy pink ear drooping across one shiny black eye, as if disheartened that his new friend had already turned her back on him.

  Joel pretended not to notice. “A bundle of energy,” he laughed, and the Littles nodded in agreement.

  “Care for a beer?” David asked his brother-in-law as they made their way inside.

  “Brother, I thought you’d never ask.”

  CHAPTER 9

  They sat in the living room, the men drinking from frosty bottles of Bud Light, Kate sipping at a glass of iced tea. Joel and Kate sat side by side on the sofa, while David relaxed in his favorite recliner. Becca sat nearby, watching Saturday morning cartoons, oblivious to everything around her except for her Barbies on the floor. According to the child’s quiet conversation with her dolls, Barbie had just found out she was pregnant and Ken was none too happy about it.

  “So,” Joel said to his sister. “You seem to be holding up well.”

  “I’m alive,” said Kate. She offered her brother a sad little smile. “I thank God for that. I think I’m going to make it.”

  “We take one day at a time,” David said.

  “I hear ya,” Joel said. “That’s how you gotta do it.” He gazed proudly at Kate, smiling. “You are gonna make it. I know. You’ve always been strong. Remember when Mom died? I honestly don’t think I would’ve survived if it hadn’t been for my big sister.”

  Kate rested her hands upon her big belly, stared down at them self-consciously. She knew he wasn’t just pulling her leg—she had been strong, back then. Of course, that had been more than a decade ago, when they were teenagers. She had been so sure that life would always be easy, as long as she had God on her side. But God never promised His children a rose garden, she discovered. A lot had happened since those days.

  David said, “Need another beer, Joel?”

  “I’m fine, thanks. Gotta drive home, you know.”

  “So how are things with you, little brother?” Kate asked. “Details!”

  “Things are good, really good. I’m staying busy. Working. That’s about it.”

  Kate feigned a sick grimace. “Personally, I don’t see how you do it. I’m proud of you, don’t get me wrong...but you’ve got guts, lemme tell you.”

  “That goes with the job,” Joel laughed. “Guts.”

  It took her a second, but Kate got it. She slapped him on the knee, and her hands went to her belly, as if to shield the ears of the innocent child inside of her from her brother’s twisted sense of humor.

  David shook his head. “I don’t think I could last a day in a job like that.”

  “I wouldn’t last an hour,” Kate said.

  “Doesn’t it get to you?” David asked, raising his bottle for another cool swallow of beer.

  “I’ll be honest with you,” said Joel. “It bothered me those first couple of months. You guys wouldn’t believe some of the nightmares I had. But you get used to it, ya know? It’s not bad at all now. Just another job. And like I said, there’s great opportunity for advancement. I’m just waiting for the county to make a decision.”

  “Wow,” Kate said. “My little brother, a coroner. Who woulda thunk it?”

  Joel’s hands went out before himself in a gesture of false modesty. “Actually, it’s still ‘Assistant Medical Examiner,’ for now. I’m working on it, though.”

  “I am so proud of you, Joel,” Kate said again. “You’ve really done well for yourself.”

  Kate shot a quick glance toward David then, before turning back to Joel. Normally this would be the point at which she gauged her husband’s mood, debating internally whether she should bring up this next topic, but she decided to dive right in.

  “And how is Michael?” she said.

  David stared at his shoes, cleared his throat once, but said nothing as his brother-in-law answered Kate’s question.

  “He’s good. Said to tell you guys hi.”

  “He was working as a paralegal last time we spoke, right?”

  “Yeah. Though I’m not sure how much longer that’s going to last.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, Michael likes his job, but he’s been keeping an eye open for something else since the Bobby Briggs thing.”

  “Oh? What happened?”

  “Cutler, Cutler and Greene—that’s the firm Michael works for? They defended Briggs at his trial.”

  “I know that name,” Kate said. She snapped her fingers, digging through her memory.

  “The guy who burned down Heller Home,” David said.

  “Right,” Joel said. “Michael enjoys the work. It pays well. But he doesn’t feel right, working for the people who defended that asshole.”

  “Language,” said Kate, her eyes d
arting toward Becca on the floor.

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  On the floor, Becca continued to puppeteer her dolls through their troubled scenario. Barbie was sick and tired of fighting with Ken. He could either do the right thing, or he could “talk to the hand.”

  “Well,” Kate said after several minutes of silence between the three adults, “maybe Michael can find something else. I hope he does, if that’s what he wants.”

  “Maybe,” Joel said. “He’s looking.”

  Joel shot a glance David’s way a few seconds later, said to Kate in a low voice, “We’ve discussed taking our relationship a step further, you know.”

  “Have you really?”

  “Yeah, you know...”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Kate said. “You’re talking about...marriage?” She smiled as she said it, but it was obvious by the look in her eyes how such a thing still conflicted with her own beliefs.

  “It’d be nice,” Joel said. “Just to...consummate it, ya know?”

  David stood suddenly, no longer interested in Elmer Fudd’s endless pursuit of that wascally wabbit on TV. He grabbed his empty mug, mumbled, “I need another beer.” To Kate: “More tea?”

  “No thanks.” Kate glared at her husband as he stalked off toward the kitchen.

  Meanwhile, on the floor, Barbie and Ken continued their fighting as parental ears lay deaf to their dilemma. She slapped his plastic face and, in the voice of a seven-year-old girl, he called her a dirty whore.

  CHAPTER 10

  Two days later, the Littles attended Randall Simms’ funeral. While Kate didn’t understand why David wanted to go, considering they’d never known the man, he convinced her by explaining that they were now citizens of this town. David felt obliged to attend, not only because he had been one of the men who found Simms’ body, but also due to the fact that—if only for a few hours—Randall Simms had been their neighbor.

  Becca wore her best Sunday dress, a teal ensemble she often wore to church on those occasions Kate took her. Becca hated the dress, always complained that it was “itchy-scratchy,” but it was the closest thing in color and style that might be considered suitable for the occasion.