Page 85 of You Can Make Me
I couldn’t tell the time of day, nor how long I’d been out, but I didn’t think it was that long. The air smelled of earth, mildew, and soot, as if someone had burned wood in here recently. If there were no windows, that wouldn’t go well. I moved my foot and heard the scrape echo, as if the space was cavernous.Thank God for room to move.
I was able to get to my feet. I balanced myself as best I could, lifted my hands up high behind my back, and brought them down hard, splitting the tape and taking skin and hair with it. I lost my balance and drove my shoulder into a wall of stone and dirt.
Okay. I was in a basement or underground.Fuck me. I could be anywhere.
Think, Hamilton.
At least I knew Cooper and the others were safe. I had to believe they got to the panic room, and that they’d be fine. No one could get past Walter’s security without calling attention to themselves in that tight-knit community up there, and the guys couldn’t leave unless Dane used his password on the inside. Walter let me know they’d built the security plan together. He’d stay put until Walter contacted him and gave him the okay. If something happened to Walter, Gene also had the all-clear message.
“He’s so strong, D. He’s terrified, but he can handle anything. So can Kal. They’re stronger together. That carnival did something to them. Changed them. And given what we’redealing with, they may be the ones who hold the power to get us out of it.”
Walter’s words had turned prophetic. Sure, I could have told Dax to fuck off, but then he and his accomplice would have tried to get into the house. Now, at least Dane and Walter would be alerted, would see what happened on the camera, and Walter would get back there with a quickness.
I had to hope. Because if I’d just left Cooper for the last time and anything happened to him, I’d never forgive myself. If I managed to survive.
A door opened somewhere nearby, and since my ankles weren’t free yet and I had no idea where I was, I opted to put my hands back behind me and sit down. Let them think my hands were still trapped.
Footsteps crunched on a stone floor littered in some sort of grit or gravel. Heavy boots. A small flashlight allowed me to track their movement as they approached.
“You awake, Detective?”
He blinded me with the light. I did my best to focus through the searing pain in my head.
“I am now. What the hell are you doing here, Soto?”
“Oh, so youdoremember me. For a bunch of decorated detectives, you boys sure let a lot of shit get by you. And your detective friend Dax couldn’t shake the feeling he had something important to do. The lack of communication between departments helped me out for years. Helped Evans, too. Holland had to go and ruin it for the rest of us, though, so here we are. I would have preferred to leave you in your ignorance.”
The older man crouched down in front of me, but back far enough that if I lunged for him, I’d faceplant at his feet.
“Evans get to you?”
He nodded slowly. “He showed me the way. Because of his power, I’ve been able to enjoy my particular tastes that society frowns upon unimpeded.”
I glanced at the hand resting on his knee and recalled the strange scar I’d seen that night at the bar so long ago. He’d overheard us talking about Dane’s disappearance when a story came on the bar’s TV and offered what he knew. Guess he’d left out a few important details.
“You a firebug, Soto?” I needed to keep him talking so I could figure out where the hell we were. I noticed a code stamped on the rough stone wall like the one we’d used to find Evans the last time.
Caltrans.
Were we in one of their substations? Where? Some of these maintenance facilities were old and had been abandoned decades ago. The task force had been searching all of the places Cooper had shared with us from his research. I remembered Gene telling me they’d found a spot where they thought someone had been living, but if the cops found that one, these evil fucks wouldn’t still be using it, would they? This had to be someplace else.
“Firebug. Very good. Youdopay attention.” He pulled back his sleeve, and I saw the mangled flesh that had once probably experienced third-degree burns. “Evans recognized my philia when we met all those years ago.”
“You told us you found a guy getting dragged away and you scared off the perp.”
“I did. That time.”
My chest tightened, and I had to work to control my breathing. Even though my hands weren’t taped, keeping them behind my back was putting a strain on my already sore body from the fucking Taser. Such a bullshit move. I’d have preferred a knock to the head.
No. I thought of Cooper and all of his struggles. We couldn’t have both of us nursing brain injuries, although if that shock did more damage to my heart…
“That time.”
“Yeah.”
Soto smiled in that sick way that Holland had. He didn’t have the fucked-up teeth that guy did, but calling his facial expression a smile was like saying the Joker was simply happy.
“He use that mind-control shit on you, then?”
