“I’d hate to think what would have happened if it wasn’t for Alex,” Kevin said.
“I’ve seen too many of these scenes,” Atkinson replied. “Best not to think about it at all.”
Kevin looked at Veronica. “Alex didn’t say where he was going?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. I tried to get him to stay, but there was no convincing him.”
“How could he be so damn cavalier about it?” Kevin muttered. “After all that’s happened?”
“Alex told Veronica he thinks the killer might be a cop,” Atkinson said. “He didn’t want her to say anything that could get him killed.”
Kevin looked at his watch. “Eleven-fifteen, Carl. Any ideas?”
“Just the same ones we’ve been working on,” he answered. “If Alex was picked up and driven somewhere there’s not much we can do. But I don’t think that’s what happened. He needed to disappear in a hurry, so I don’t see him waiting somewhere for a car. I also don’t believe he’s in a house or apartment around here. That doesn’t tie in to what he said to Veronica.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked.
“He told me not to call because he didn’t want anybody to hear him,” Veronica answered. “Wherever he is, he said it was ‘real quiet up there.’ Those are the words he used.”
“I have patrol units focusing on the hilly streets around here,” Atkinson said. “We’ve given them a physical description of what he looks like and what he’s wearing. There’s not much more we can do at this point.”
“I don’t know why everyone’s so worried.”
The three of them looked at Seth. He eyed each of them in return. “I mean it,” he said. “You really think my dad would want to hurt Alex now? After what he did tonight?”
“Your dad?” Atkinson asked. “I don’t understand.”
“Forget it,” Kevin said, shooting a sharp-eyed glance at Seth. “Just silly talk we’ve been having about ghosts.”
“Ghosts?” Atkinson said, chuckling. “Well, that would explain the lack of fingerprints, wouldn’t it?”
“Come with me, Seth,” Veronica said, rising to her feet. “I want to see if I can talk to my mom. I’ve told her all about you, so maybe you can say hello.”
“Okay,” he replied, preparing to stand. “But you’ll see. Alex is gonna be fine.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
The lump on the back of his head bothered him, but so what? A little pain meant he was still alive, so bring it on. The late November night chilled his body but he felt secure in his personal hiding place. He sat with his back against a big tree, draped by lots of long, bushy branches that hung down to the ground, making him feel well hidden behind a curtain of leaves. He would have preferred a darker night, but the moon was almost full. Then again, maybe that benefitted him because he’d be able to spot someone if they tried anything. This is where he’d hide and stay awake past four a.m., just in case. After that he’d catch a little sleep before returning home and dealing with all the bullshit. He figured the police were already looking for him and he’d have to answer all their damn questions.
Face’s confidence strengthened knowing he had something special working for him, something nobody else had: The power. The vision. If anyone tried messing with him he’d be ahead of the game by avoiding traps and recognizing how and where they’ll attack. He didn’t know for sure if a cop was the killer or not, but he wasn’t taking chances. Face planned to outsmart somebody, whoever he was, and prove that this particular Diablo happened to be the one motherfucker who had the brains and balls to survive through the night. For the moment, he’d keep his hands in his pockets and his hood pulled over his head trying to stay warm.
Now that he made it up here to Casa Place, he realized he wasn’t feeling too good. He felt tired and dizzy. The lump on his head seemed bigger and hurt more than before. Maybe he smashed it against the wall harder than he thought when he fell back over the TV. He glanced at his cell phone to see the time. “Almost midnight,” he whispered. “I got me some time. Maybe if I rest a little I’ll feel better.” Finding a position that avoided the painful spot, Face leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.
* * *
Veronica placed the phone back on the cradle, looking defeated as she returned to the kitchen table. Her usual erect posture gave way to sagging shoulders as she dropped on the chair and bowed her head, her face hidden by dangling locks of hair. Kevin pulled his chair closer to hers.
“You’ll try him again later, all right?”
“He won’t answer,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’ve called five times. What’s the use?” Veronica raised her head and stared at the clock on the wall. “I can’t just sit here anymore,” she complained. “We only have a little more than an hour left.” She looked back at him, her eyes moist and rimmed with red. “We’ve got to find him.”
Kevin agreed. Lieutenant Atkinson had continued to preach patience, telling them his units were scouring all areas, but four a.m. was fast approaching. They all needed to be part of the search at this point. “You’re right,” he said. “Everybody has to be involved now.”
Seth remained asleep on the couch. Kevin opened the door and saw Atkinson talking on the phone in his car. “You wake Seth, Veronica. I’ll tell Carl we’re leaving.” When he approached the car he stood close by and listened, waiting for the conversation to finish.
“I don’t want to send a chopper up there blind. Just make sure it’s fueled and ready to go…Yeah, yeah, the Captain knows everything…We don’t have time to go banging on every fucking door, okay?...Well, check the park again, damn it!...I told you before, I don’t think he drove away. I really believe the kid wants to handle this one alone…That’s right, four a.m…It might be our best chance to nail this heart attack asshole…Keep working the hills, that makes the most sense…I know there’s no lights up there. He might’ve been thinking that way too, right? Okay, I’ll tell you when.”
As soon as Carl finished, Kevin wasted no time explaining his intention.
“Yeah, go ahead, Kevin,” he answered in a tired voice. “Let’s face it, we don’t have much time. I’ll make sure all units are aware of your vehicle searching the areas. Just do me a favor, all right?” The Lieutenant took a notepad and wrote down a phone number. “Here,” he said, tearing off the sheet and handing it to Kevin. “If you find him, call me immediately. Just because the fish is hooked doesn’t mean you can reel him in.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Face lurched awake from a dream that ended with him trapped in a coffin of ice, able to breathe and hear, yet powerless to escape. The cold seemed unbearable, and the sound of his heartbeat echoed off the frozen walls. The realization that he just dreamed the situation offered momentary relief that soon gave way to a splitting headache and the awareness of the time when he looked at his phone. Face cursed himself for falling asleep, for getting careless and putting himself in a position where twenty minutes later someone could have sneaked up and finished him off like all the others. He didn’t want to think about what a stupid ass, what a pendejo he would have been, if he’d been killed in his sleep. He also noticed he’d missed five calls, all from his sister. “Tell ya what, Veronica,” he said quietly, changing the ringer control from silent to vibrate. “If you call again I’ll answer. Just to let you know I ain’t dead.”
He felt like shit. His head throbbed and the temperature must have dropped another ten degrees. He also felt dizzy enough to think he could puke at any minute. Face figured he’d feel better if he got to his feet and took some deep breaths. When he stood, he needed to hold his arm out against the tree for support. “This is bullshit,” he muttered. Within moments he leaned over throwing up on the other side of the tree. He straightened up, inhaled more fresh air, and decided he felt better. He reached in the pocket of his sweatshirt and took out his phone. “Sixteen minutes to find me, asshole,” he whispered, his tone defiant. “This is too fuckin’ easy.”
In the next i
nstant Face dropped to his knees, blinded by blackness. He started to shiver, and sensed a feeling of walls closing in from all sides, surrounding him like…like a coffin. A slurred voice, impossible to understand, somehow led him to recognize that death approached him, stalking him, determined to follow the four a.m. timetable for his destruction. Face then heard the same loud heartbeat from his dream, a steady one-two, one-two thumping he feared as his own. The drum-like sound increased, reaching a voluminous power that hurt his ears and forced him to place his hands over them in a futile attempt at relief.
He saw himself flat on the ground, struggling to overcome a strange, paralyzing cold that left him open to attack. A terrifying image of black rats, their eyes red and wild, overwhelmed him as their crazed squealing penetrated his hideout. Soon another vision occurred, this one of ice white hands somehow stretching and moving its fingers inside his body, swimming through his bloodstream like a great white shark hungry to kill. Face realized he’d soon be in the grasp of a superior power beyond his control and that his ability to foresee danger meant nothing anymore. He’d be dead soon. At four a.m.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Uncle Kevin had driven his car for almost forty minutes. Veronica sat with him in the front, directing him through the hilly streets of the neighborhood. Seth sat in the back, feeling energized by the actual experience of seeing Casa Place. According to his watch, they drove up the street at three twenty-three. What a cool feeling, knowing Alex hid up there somewhere, and no one else knew but him. At first he felt nervous, wondering if they’d find him. Alex would think Seth told on him and that would ruin everything. Next time he saw Alex, he’d let him know how everybody worried so much. They’d both have a good laugh. Maybe Alex would share other secrets with him after tonight, knowing he could trust him.
Seth felt bad that Veronica seemed so sad and worried. He wished she believed him about his dad, that he wouldn’t be angry with Alex, but she’d just have to see for herself. His dad only killed the bad guys, and Alex wasn’t one of those anymore. When Veronica told them that Alex decided to stop being a gang member, Seth knew for sure they had nothing to worry about. Why couldn’t anybody else see that?
“Try calling him again,” Uncle Kevin told her, pulling to the side of the road.
Veronica’s voice sounded tired and depressed. “Why?” she asked. “He won’t answer.”
“You’ve hung up the phone every time you called,” he remarked. “Aren’t you able to leave him a message?”
“I know what he’s like,” she said, “and it won’t do any good. Alex is so stubborn and seemed so determined to be left alone. A voice mail message wouldn’t mean a thing.”
“It’s three thirty-five, Veronica. We don’t have time to think that way anymore.”
Veronica looked out her side window. Running a hand through her hair, she took a deep breath, exhaling as if she were blowing out candles on a cake. “You’re right,” she replied, clutching her phone as she stared at the screen. “I would love nothing more than to have Alex yell at me tomorrow for going against his wishes.”
“I have an idea,” he said. “Turn your speaker phone on so Seth can talk into it, too. Maybe Alex might respond if he also hears his young friend’s voice.”
“I don’t know, Uncle Kevin. Alex might think I’m bugging him.”
“So what?” his uncle exclaimed, sounding upset. “We all care about him, right? I’d like the chance to thank him for what he did tonight, and make sure he’s all right. Wouldn’t you?”
Veronica turned the speaker on so everyone could hear. Seth figured no harm would come from playing along and leaving a message. Maybe it was for the better. Alex would be able to hear for himself how Seth didn’t give anything away. Within moments, the quick, high-pitched tones from the speed dial sounded. “Lean in closer, Seth,” she said. I’ll hold it for you.” Seth heard the ringing on the other end of the line. “You’ll hear the beep after five rings,” she told him. The fourth ring finished. “Get ready to leave…”
Alex’s alarmed voice cut her off in mid-sentence. “Veronica! Is that you?”
Veronica gasped as she pulled the phone back toward her mouth. “Alex! Where…are you all right?”
Alex started talking in a fast, nervous-sounding way that rattled Seth.
“I saw crazy shit…lots a fuckin’ rats all over me…and white hands…fingers like bones…doin’ somethin’ inside! Couldn’t see. Can’t figure it out. And I heard a loud beating sound…like a drum. Or a fuckin’ heart!”
“Alex, you need help! Tell us where you are!”
“I saw myself…dyin’! So cold…I couldn’t fuckin’ move!” After a brief moment of silence, Alex yelled into the phone. “He’s here! Someone’s here! Can’t see…”
“Alex!” she shouted. “Can you hear me?”
“Aaahh!”
Seth listened in disbelief. A scream that sounded as if Alex was in terrible pain ended with a muffled noise that he couldn’t figure out. Maybe a hand covered the phone, or it dropped somewhere, or someone threw it so Alex couldn’t communicate with anybody. He thought he heard him yelling in the background but couldn’t be sure. Veronica tried several more times without success to get Alex to respond.
She choked back a sob. “Kevin, I don’t know what to do!”
Neither did Seth. His confusion caused a struggle for breath, as if he had run a long race. Alex seemed to be in terrible danger, but how could that be? No one knew about his hiding place but him. Suddenly another thought entered his thinking, slowly at first, until the possibility became an unbearable certainty. His dad was with Alex…and he was going to kill him! Seth looked at his watch, at the American and Mexican flags side by side, and remembered what Alex said when he gave it to him.
“No matter where you are and what time you got, you and me is always together.”
“You’re wrong, Alex,” he answered back in a whisper. “The time does matter. If I don’t find you in the next twelve minutes, we’ll never be together again.”
Seth shouted as if Uncle Kevin and Veronica were a block away. “Go to Casa Place! That’s where he hides! He told me! Behind some trees! Hurry!”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Face wasn’t alone. He didn’t know how to put the feeling into words for Veronica, but he just knew. He grabbed his gun, readying himself for a chance to shoot, but a brutal pain shot through his chest.
“Aaahh!”
Face dropped the phone and staggered behind the tree, his arm stretched out in a set position to fire. The clear sound of a heartbeat, coming from somewhere, echoed in his ears for several moments before fading away. A voice from out of nowhere soon followed.
“He shrieked once-once only.”
“WHAT? WHERE ARE YOU?” Face shouted.
The uninvited moonlight entered through the open branches, leaving him exposed. He felt vulnerable to a long-range rifle or a surprise attack. He wasn’t sure whether to stay or move somewhere else. He waited, his gun in one hand and the other massaging his chest where the pain had struck. Face remained on guard through the once-broken silence, his eyes and ears alert for any movement.
“Who’s there?”
“I kept quite still and said nothing.”
Face jumped back and spun in a complete circle, certain this new enemy stood a few feet away. But where? He suddenly realized if the voice seemed that close without anyone in sight, he must have been hiding in the tree. Face pointed his gun upward and hurriedly scanned every branch, looking for a reason to shoot. With help from the moonlight, he didn’t see anybody there, but his right eye had blurred and felt swollen, hurting like a bitch and leaving him less sure of his ability to protect himself. Keeping one hand on his gun, Face dropped to one knee and placed his free hand over the pain. He felt gooey shit on his fingers and couldn’t understand how the puffiness had gotten so much worse in such a short time. “Damn!” he grumbled. “It was that fuckin’ fight tonight.”
Face rose to his feet,
making sure he didn’t get careless. He continued to hear the beating in his head, but now wondered if the big bump and headache had caused all of his problems. He walked over to a section of overhanging branches and peeked out between them, thinking he might see something there, even with one good eye. Lights from the city sparkled below, making everything seem peaceful for the moment.
“I grew furious as I gazed upon it.”
Face fell to the ground, clutching his chest and fighting for air. He couldn’t stop shaking from the cold. His insides felt covered in snow, but he had proven himself too much of a man to let something like this happen to him. He had to get up and fight. He had to! He tried to stand, rising to one knee before another jolt of pain struck him down again. He lay flat on his back now, staring up with his one good eye at the tree branches above. What he saw made him question if…caused him to pray…that he was hallucinating. Masses of squealing black rats, like large hairy fruit, appeared out of nowhere, hanging in packs from every branch in sight. He watched in mind-numbing helplessness as the rodent-filled tree limbs swung back and forth above him, lowering inch by inch with each passing second, closing in on his disabled body.
“Down-steadily down it crept.”
Face tried to push away, but with each attempt another crippling ache shot through the inside of his chest, causing him to collapse again. He wondered in horror if his dream about an ice coffin would soon come true.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Kevin raced his car to the top of the narrow winding road. A lone house sat upon a hill at the end of the darkened street, filled with pre-dawn shadows from a single streetlight and a cold winter moon. When Seth admitted to knowing Alex’s hiding place, his emotions ranged from anger to panic. They were now down to six minutes before four. Six minutes! He couldn’t believe Seth had allowed so much time to lapse but his confession gave them something they didn’t have before: hope.
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