by Dan Glover
"I'm not sure I'm liking this all that much, DanBoy. Did you do it with her?"
"No... when we went to touch, a spark flew between us. That's when I woke up and everyone was staring at me."
"That's pretty weird, Danners. That's what happened when you two went to hold hands at the table. You must've had the vision after you were knocked unconscious."
"Maybe... I don’t know. What do you mean... you're not liking this much?"
"The part about you having sex with Bernice. That makes me sort of jealous."
"Sort of?"
"Well, okay... a lot. It pisses me off, if you must know. If you're going to have sex with any woman, it better be me, Danners."
"Are you trying to seduce me, Liza?"
"No... yeah... maybe. I don't know, DanMan. Just forget I said anything. If you want to go to bed with Bernice, by all means... do it. I'm sure she'd accommodate you. After all, you're old friends, right? You go way back to the stone age."
"I don’t want to sleep with Bernice, though. I'm just telling you about the vision I had, that's all. You're the one who asked. You know I'm... oh, forget it."
"What, Danners... say it."
"I'm in love with you, Liza. Ever since we met, I... well... I don't want anyone else but you."
"Now you're embarrassing me."
"See, I knew I shouldn’t say anything."
"No... I'm glad you did. I've been waiting to hear it for years. It's just..."
"You don't have those kinds of feelings for me. I understand, Liza."
"But I do..."
Chapter 60—El Diablo
(And Company)
"Maybe you ought to check on your friend, son. He's had a rough go of it."
"Danners'll be fine, mother."
Besides, he's not my friend. We're acquaintances, nothing more. Not even that, really. On the other hand, she was right. Danners had been gone forever. But then again, could anyone blame him? The man was getting lambasted from all sides. Even Liza was getting in on the act.
And now they were getting ready to abandon him again... to set sail for Los Angeles, the city of angels. Leave Danners and Liza here to deal with el Diablo and company alone. He'd stay if at all possible but between the threatening texts he was receiving from Special Asshole in Charge Matt Murk and the need for mother to get back in time to be to work on Monday... well... there wasn’t a whole lot of options available.
"Do you think they'll be okay here alone, Reilly?"
"I hope so, mother. Liza and Danners can take care of themselves. Still... I wish we could stay a few more days, just in case they need some backup."
"Don't let me take you away, son. I can call work. I'll tell them my plane got delayed or some bullshit. Hell, I ain't had a vacation in two years. Another day or two won't kill nobody. I'm not sure Danners wants me around, though... after the way he acted in the cantina yesterday..."
"Danners sees things when he touches people. It's not you, mother. It's anyone."
"What sort of things?"
"Well, you'd have to ask him that. From what I gather, he gets impressions of who they are and what their lives have been like. The same way with objects... that knife he has... those marbles... everything he touches has a story to it."
"Lord, Lord... no wonder he didn’t want to take my hand. And there we were all making fun of the man."
"You didn’t know, mother. Danners realizes that. So... what's this thing with you and Hank Lupo?"
"Ain't nobody's business, son. We just having some fun. When this trip is over, so are we."
"You two make a great couple."
"Are you trying to rile me, boy?"
"No... honestly... when you two walked into the cantina yesterday, I could tell right off you belonged together."
"Oh go on with you, Reilly. Hank's married."
"I know that, mother. The way I hear it, though, it isn’t one of those unions made in heaven."
"You reckon he'll stay on a few more days if we do?"
"I can almost guarantee it. He has that look in his eyes."
"What look is that, son?"
"Like he's missing you already."
"Speaking of missing, Reilly... you heard anything from that girl of yours?"
"Who... oh, you mean Elena? No."
"Here I was hoping you two'd make a thing of it together. She seemed mighty nice. Smart too."
Yes she was, mother. Now she's just another decaying cadaver inside that goddamned cemetery crypt. Why the hell did she have to dabble in the shit like that? Figured someone like that would be attracted to him. No, he couldn’t have just a normal everyday girl... she had to be damaged merchandise. But then again, who the hell wasn't? Certainly not him.
"Well... if we've decided to stay, I'm going to saunter on over to Hank's and see what we can get into today. You doing anything, Reilly?"
"I'm gonna check in on Danners and Liza. You and Hank have a good time, mother."
"Oh, we will... don't wait up for me, son."
Chapter 61—Hyenas
(In Mexico)
1
From where they stood the church looked deserted. Dark was pressing in... the shriek of some wild animal broke the silence in the not too distant gloom that surrounded them, like hyenas, maybe, or wolves. They don’t have hyenas in Mexico, Danners. Do they?
He didn’t want to be here. Maybe he should've listened to Liza... just gone back to Los Angeles like she wanted. Hell, there wasn’t any maybe to it. It wasn’t too late. They could still go. Dammit though... if he abandoned them now, those children would haunt him the rest of his life.
He could throw those marbles into the first river they came to. That might stop it... the dreams. Every time he closed his eyes, there she was... Elena Stamper... telling him how each marble was really the soul of a child waiting to be reborn and if he didn’t act—if he didn’t end this thing now and forever—those babies would be trapped in hell.
"That knife... you have to destroy it, Danners."
"How do I go about doing that?"
The goddamned thing was made of iron. Destroy it? Right. He'd get right on that. Build a fucking fire and melt that fucker down. Sure he would. As if. But she seemed so serious, so certain, he was bound to listen.
"There are cracks in the earth, Danners. Fissures that go down miles into the ground. This entire area was once a vast volcano. That crypt was built over top of just such an opening."
"I don’t understand..."
"Didn’t you smell it?"
"It smelled like death if that's what you mean."
"There was something else too... remember?"
"Wait a minute... I do..."
She was right. A rotten egg smell. The stench of decaying bodies covered it up but not all together. In fact, he had the impression that if Liza had been trapped inside that crypt for another couple hours, she'd be dead now. That's what the good padre and his cohorts were counting on... the fumes leaking into the tomb.
"You're beginning to get it right, Danners. Water will quench the power of the marbles just as fire will destroy that knife. But do you understand why that is?'
"Good and evil... the marbles and the knife are set against each other..."
"Ah... you've figured it out. I was beginning to wonder about you."
2
"I don’t want to go into that place again, DanDan. Do I have to?"
"No, sweetie... in fact, you can't. That crypt is filled with poison gases leaking up from beneath the floor. You've already suffered exposure... to do so again might well kill you."
"So how do I go about luring Fletch and his buddies inside?"
"You don't. The plan's changed. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before, Liza. All you have to do is be seen in Santo Tomas. Word'll travel fast, believe me. And us going to lunch today accomplished that already. Once they realize you're actually alive, they won't be able to stop themselves from going into that crypt."
"The classic return to the scene of t
he crime?"
"Sure, there's that. But also, unless I'm mistaken, the something man has assured Fletch that you're dead. The fact that you're not is going to sow doubt in the good padre's mind... enough so he won't trust his old buddy anymore. Fletch will have to see for himself.
"I'm going to place the knife inside that crypt in plain sight. Fletch is bound to spot it when he goes in. I'll construct a booby trap just inside the entrance that when triggered will slam the door behind him. Simultaneously, I'll plant a small thermite charge under the knife... powerful enough it'll burn through the floor allowing the knife to plunge into the abyss below."
"And releasing poisonous gas that'll fill the chamber. Fletch will be asphyxiated."
"Liza... did I ever tell you how brilliant you are?"
"And gorgeous too... right DanDan? But what about the something man? Does he get away?"
"Gorgeous doesn’t come close to doing you justice, sweetie. Unless I'm wrong, he'll follow Fletch into the crypt. With luck, they'll both be trapped."
"And your ghost girl has put you up to all this, DanBoy?"
"Well, yeah... her and the dragon."
"So what's the plan, Dan? When do we start this thing of yours?"
"I'm going to the cemetery now. Scout it out. Being a Friday, Fletch will probably be away. At least that's the hope. If so, I’ll have time to set the booby trap, plant the thermite, and leave the knife for him to find. After that, it's in God's hands."
"But you don’t believe in God..."
"Well, maybe today I'll make an exception, Liza. Just for today, mind you."
3
The thermite charge was easy enough to obtain through one of his former Ranger mates. The main advantage to using military grade weaponry was that it came with an igniter. Otherwise, thermite could be a bitch to ignite. A man might have to hold a propane torch to it, which he preferred not having to do.
Roger Barnes had served with him during his entire tour in Vietnam. The man said repeatedly how he'd never forget that Danners Forthright saved his life the day when the shitstorm descended on the squad from out of nowhere. Indeed he had. From his perch high on the hilltop overlooking the valley Danners had dispatched at least two hundred Viet Cong single-handedly and probably prevented a minor Armageddon, at least in his neck of the woods.
Christmastime in February... that's what they called it. The Tet Offensive... yeah, fun and games galore for everyone. Those were some fighting ass motherfuckers, the Viet Cong. The United States Army and its allies outnumbered them five to one but that didn’t seem to matter. Of course they were protecting their homeland while Danners and his brethren were little more than intruders burglarizing the neighborhood. Still, he had a job to do.
Half the squad was wiped out that day. Hell, they'd all have perished if not for his shooting. After that, they called him Deadeye Danners... those who knew him well, which were few. He killed so many of the enemy that the advancing troops were forced to turn away from their main objective and instead focus on the withering fire coming from the top of the hill. As soon as they zoomed in on his location he'd up and move to another spot, all the time firing, firing, firing, until he thought the barrel of his specialized M25 White Feather Tactical/Carlos Hathcock Springfield rifle might melt. It didn’t.
"You saved my life out here, partner. I won't forget that. Ever. When we get back to the world, Forthright, remember... if you ever need anything... anything at all... contact me. I've got you covered."
Though they hadn’t spoken in forty years, Barnes knew exactly who it was on the other end of the line without asking. The man still sounded tough as nails and he took Danners request without asking why he needed it.
"When do you need it, Forthright?"
"Now."
"Give me your address, Forthright. I'll have the package to you in three hours."
"Doesn’t customs get involved in that shit, Barnes?"
"I don’t use ordinary couriers. Not to worry. It'll get to you safe and sound. And Forthright... it's sure good hearing from you again, buddy. The goddamned cancer's eating me up. We probably won't be talking again. Take care of business and I'll be seeing you on the other side."
A lot of them came home like that. The chemical defoliant the government used to kill the jungle attacked human beings too. There were days when the entire sky was orange from that shit sifting down from planes flying high overhead settling in on everything. They ate it, drank it, breathed it, and shat it out. Oh, that stuff'll only put hair on your chests, boys. Hell, I'd feed it to my own kids.
Why was it that assholes always seemed to be in charge of everything in the goddamned world?
4
They hadn’t changed the padlock on the crypt door. Not that it'd have mattered. He could pick any lock in seconds. Once inside he worked quickly, stringing piano wire from the door over the ceiling and attaching it to the thermite charge just below the knife. The cement floor was cracked and by putting his nose close to it he could smell the sulfur leaching up from below.
"This is the place, Liza... hand me the charge."
She'd insisted on coming with him, of course, just like he knew she would. He'd rather she did come with... otherwise he'd be worried about a repeat of what happened before... an all out assault this time.
"We're in this motherfucker together, DanDan... there ain't no way I'm cowering here while you're out there doing this thing."
"That's why we're so good together, Liza. We got one another's backs."
"How're you going to hold the wire in place, sweetie?"
"These hooks have special points made to screw into stone. I'll only need three of them to do the job. The tricky part is setting the door to close when they enter. All it'll need is a nudge so this spring should work. This stick will hold the door open until someone steps inside and trips the wire I'll string across the floor. Once they get inside far enough and trip it, it'll cause the door to shut behind them. We'll have to rig a latch on the outside. Easy enough done."
"But how will all that happen? Is it foolproof? Or are we depending on luck here?"
"They say in the grave there is peace. And peace and the grave are one and the same."
"English, Danners... no speaky de gibberish."
"It's an encryption over a Chinese tomb discovered back in 1974 called Qin Shi Huang. The entire tomb is the size of a small city and it is one elaborate booby trap. Though it's rumored to be full of treasure no one's ever explored inside the place even to this day and it was built over two thousand years ago. The Chinese still model their booby traps after the ones in that tomb."
"I'll take your word for it, Danners. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Like this... see... I take a glass vial of mercury and stick it under a loose tile on the floor. By attaching wires from an energy source—a battery—to each end, when they step on the tile and break the vial of mercury the liquid metal will complete the circuit... and viola! That thermite charge will ignite and burn a hole in the floor. The old knife that lured them in here should drop through the crack into the volcanic vent below and be lost forever... and noxious fumes will fill the crypt killing anyone inside within minutes."
"That's pretty fucking impressive. Where'd you learn how to do all this stuff, DanMan?"
"Vietnam... over in that country you either took notice of booby traps and learned all about them or you died. Let me tell you, Liza... Fletch and his fiends are nothing compared to the Viet Cong. If those guys carried wallets, they'd all say bad motherfuckers on 'em. And do you know where they learned their shit? From the Chinese. So yeah... I picked up a thing or two over there, sure enough."
"You know what?"
"No, what."
"I'm pretty glad I'm on your side, Danners."
"I wouldn’t have it any other way, sweetie."
"I do have one question, though."
"What is it, Liza?"
5
"What if we're wrong about Fletch being involved in the m
urder of those children?"
"We're not."
"How can you be certain? You told me yourself that the man came here seeking to do good for the peasants, not to harm them."
"Yes he did... that much is true, Liza. But somewhere along the way the man lost control. Instead of saving the souls of those children, he took the easy way out. He began murdering them."
"Okay... I can go along with that. But I still don’t understand how killing Fletch will stop the murders of the children. That was going on long before he arrived."
"I'm not sure it will, to be honest. Hopefully by destroying that knife, whatever power it holds will be dissolved. If not, then I don’t see as there's much more we can do."
"What are you doing with those marbles? Are those the ones you got from Elena?"
"Yes they are. They're part of my dream, Liza. I'm not sure exactly why, but I get the feeling I'm supposed to leave them outside the crypt scattered in a specific design... one that mimics the location of the graves in the cemetery where each child is buried.
"The marbles are a representation of the good in the world to counteract the evil that Fletch and his Gathering have cultivated. The marbles are a calling of sorts... meant to focus the power of the imagination.
"From what I gather, each one of Eduardo's marbles once belonged to a child who was murdered by either Fletch or those who came before him. The kid had a special talent for seeing things like that and he died for it."
"Oh, Danners... "
"I know... that's some shit, ain't it. Now can you see why I had to stay here... why I had to try and end this thing?"
"I'm beginning to, sweetie... but I worry about you... about us."
"You're not the only one, Liza. Now come on... let's get out of this tomb and finish our job here. And remember... if they catch us it'll be curtains."
Chapter 62—A Change
(Of Drawers)
1
"Where you going, Mr. Big and Bad?"
