Читать книгу Devils And Dust - J.D. Rhoades - Страница 14

THE MOUNTAIN was burning.

The acrid smoke filled Keller’s eyes and nose, choking him. It was redolent with the sweet aromas of pines and fir, but underneath was the ever-present reek of burning flesh. He looked up into a sky with no sun, no stars, only the smoke flowing and writhing above him as if it were a living thing. Black birds whirled and dipped through the clouds, cawing in harsh rusty voices. He looked down to see a group of figures surrounding him, each with a hand raised and a finger pointing accusingly. They were burning as well, their flesh blackening and melting away as the flame wrapped around them. He saw Marie, the woman he’d loved, her son Ben clutching his mother’s leg as the fire devoured them both. He saw DeGroot, the man he’d shot in cold blood, kneeling a few feet to her right. On his face was a mocking grin that slowly dissolved, the fat sizzling and popping as the flesh melted, revealing the equally mocking grin of the skull beneath. He saw Lisa, the young Hmong girl who’d tried to help him. She was looking at him with the same expression of shock she’d worn when the sniper’s bullet had taken her. Behind her was the man who’d killed her. He was the only one not burning. His face was covered with the camo mask that was all Keller had ever seen of him. He stepped forward, seeming to pass through Lisa’s body as she fell apart into ash and blackened bone.

You bring death, the man said, and hell follows with you.

“That was wrong,” Keller thought. It had been Harland, Lisa’s adoptive father, who’d made that accusation. It didn’t make it any less true. “I know,” he whispered.

“KNOW,” one of the birds above him called down in its derisive, croaking voice. The others took up the call. “KNOW. KNOW. KNOW.”

“Jack,” a voice said.

“No,” Keller moaned. “No. No.”

“JACK!”

Keller’s eyes opened. Lucas Berry was bending over him. “Jack,” he said again. “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

Keller sat up slowly. “I’m…” he said, then took a deep breath.”I’m awake.” He looked around to get his bearings. He was in a hotel room. He was lying in one of the beds.

The other was unmade, and Lucas sat down on it. He was clad only in a pair of plaid boxer shorts. “Bad dream,” he said.

Keller ran his hands over his face. “Yeah.”

“Tell me about it.”

Keller laughed weakly. “You always do psychoanalysis in your underwear?”

“It’s a new technique. I’m thinking of writing an article on it. Now talk to me.”

Keller swung his legs off the bed. “Can I take a piss first?”

When he returned, Lucas had pulled out a ragged blue terrycloth robe that looked as big as a tent and wrapped it around him. “Better?” he said.

“Much.” Keller sat on the edge of his bed and pulled on his jeans.

“So what was the dream?” Lucas said.

“I don’t remember.”

“Bullshit,” Lucas said.

Keller sighed. “Okay. I was on the mountain.”

“The mountain?”

“Where it happened. Where I shot DeGroot.”

“Let’s start by reframing that. The mountain is where you saved Marie’s life. And her son’s. And your own. She told me all about it.”

“Did she tell you that I shot DeGroot when he was on his knees? Unarmed? Helpless? Did she tell you I shot him again and again, until the gun clicked empty? Did she tell you I was laughing like a goddamn lunatic while I did it?”

“Yes,” Lucas said softly. “She did. And she told me why. She told me DeGroot had some sort of juice. Someone high up looking after him. He was going to get out. He’d told her was going to come back after her. And her boy. He was going to torture them to death because that’s what he did. And he’d get away with it, because that’s also what he did. He had that juice. So he had to die. She also told me that you took the gun from her to keep her from shooting DeGroot in front of her son. You did it so she wouldn’t have to.”

Keller looked down at the floor. “Angela says she’s afraid of what this will do to me.”

“Are you?”

Keller thought for a moment. “A little.”

“So don’t do it,” Lucas said. “We’ll find Oscar some other way.”

“No,” Keller said. “This is something I have to do. Oscar’s my friend. I owe him.”

“You’ve said that. But is that the only thing that’s going on here, Jack? Just duty? A sense of obligation?” Keller didn’t answer. “Back in Arizona,” Lucas said after a few moments. “How was your life?”

“It was fine,” Keller said.

“Looked like it. You had a job. A place to stay. That girl Jules…she seemed nice.”

“She was. I mean, she is.”

“So why leave?”

“I told you—”

“Yeah, yeah, you owe Oscar. But I couldn’t help but notice how much more engaged you seem now than you did back there. Your eyes are brighter. There’s a spring in your step that wasn’t there before. Face it, Jack, you’re enjoying being on the hunt again.”

“Angela says the same thing,” Keller said. “But so what? Are you saying that’s a bad thing?”

“No,” Lucas answered. “Not at all. But you need to recognize that about yourself. You’re a hunter. A warrior. Not a killer. Embrace it. Don’t try and run from it. You tried to run back to the desert. And it didn’t work for you. If it had you wouldn’t have come back.”

“Embrace it?” Keller said, his voice rising. “I killed a man, Lucas. And I liked it.”

“Not the first man you’ve killed,” Lucas observed. “Maybe not the last. But as far as I can tell, you never killed anyone that didn’t try to kill you first. Maybe that’s why you enjoyed it so much. How does the song go? ‘It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive’? It doesn’t make you the monster you apparently think you are. You did what you did to protect what you love.” He looked at the clock and sighed. “It’s almost six thirty. I’m going to grab a shower and try to find some breakfast around here. How about you?”

“Yeah,” Keller said. “Breakfast sounds good.”

There was a knock at the door. Lucas got up and answered. Angela stood there, holding a cell phone. “I just got a text…from Delgado.”

“He gets up early.”

“His contact will talk to us. And she’s seen Oscar.”

“She?” Keller said.

She held out the phone. “Rosita Miron. She’s Delgado’s aunt. And she lives a few miles from Fayetteville.”