Death Glitch (32 page)

“
That’s it?” Izzy said, knowing it was.

“
Yeah,” Lila said. “I thought we’d be belly crawling from here to the fence, then along it to the cliff, trying not to get electrocuted, but with this fog, it’s looking like we can walk right up, invisible to everybody but the dogs.”

“
You hope,” Izzy said.

“
Hope what?”

“
That we don’t get electrocuted.”

“
Everything else is going our way, that will too.” She reached out to Izzy’s shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’ll be okay, you’ll see.”

“
I believe you.”

“
Come on.” And side by side they started toward the light.

* * *

Mouledoux got himself another cup of coffee. Took a sip of the steaming liquid as the Waynes, père et fils, came into the kitchen followed by Peeps.

“
That’s all we need,” Tucker said, looking out at the fog.

“
What do you make of it?” Mouledoux said.

“
It’s fog, that’s all.” Manny Wayne had a monster of a weapon.

“
A Dirty Harry gun,” Mouledoux said, sidetracked by the pistol. “A Smith & Wesson Model 29.”

“
You know your guns.”

“
I do,” Mouledoux said. “Four inch barrel, forty-four Magnum. Rare, hard to get.”

“
It’ll kill what I hit,” Manny said.

“
That it’ll do,” Mouledoux said. Then, “It’s weird, this fog, the way it just stops there. It moved in and stopped. It’s clear here, but out there, fifteen or twenty feet into the back, it’s thick as pea soup.” He took another sip of his coffee, as if he needed it, because all his systems were firing on overdrive. “It’s that way on both sides of the house, too. Fog about twenty feet out, but the front is clear. It’s like it moved in, saw the house and surrounded it.”

“
That’s absurd,” Tucker said.

“
Could Lila Booth have done this?” Peeps said.

“
Don’t be stupid,” Tucker said.

“
Look at the dogs,” Peeps said. They were standing guard at the edge of the fog, silent sentries.

“
They don’t seem nervous or afraid of it,” Manny said. “So I wouldn’t be either.”

Then, as if they’d heard them, the dogs went into the fog and it was as if they’d vanished before Mouledoux’s eyes.

If he hadn’t been a hundred percent sure he’d screwed up big time by coming here, he was now.

* * *

A couple three yards from it and Izzy saw the fence and all of a sudden she saw the dogs on the other side of it.

“
Wait,” Izzy said. She went to the fence, careful not to touch it. She went down on one knee. “You boys aren’t going to bother us, are you?”

The dogs sat, noses close to the fence, but like Izzy, they were careful not to touch it. Fierce looking though they were, they seemed tame enough now.

“
I don’t think they’re going to be a problem,” Izzy said.

“
I don’t get it.”

“
It’s like it was with Hunter,” Izzy said. “He took to me when he first saw me, like we had a bond. It’s that way with these dogs, too. Don’t you feel it?”

“
Yeah.” Lila stared at the dogs, kind of smiled. “So you think we can just take them with us when we leave? I got a neighbor says he wants a big dog, maybe he’ll take two.”

“
We could do that,” Izzy said.

“
That’s great,” Lila said and Izzy could see the relief on her face. She’d been planning on shooting off her grenades, then shooting the dogs in the confusion and now she was visibly glad she didn’t have to. Killing the men, that she could do without compunction, but killing these dogs, that bothered her.

Izzy got up off her knee, keeping her eyes on the dogs. It really was the same as it had been with Hunter, these dogs were hers to command now. Was it going to be that way with all animals, or just dogs? She shivered, because with Hunter it was almost as if he’d understood her and now she instinctively knew she had the same bond with these two dogs. She’d never thought of animals as intelligent before, she’d been wrong, they were, but in a different sort of way, a way humans couldn’t understand, but that somehow she was beginning to.

“
Are you in lala land or what?” Lila said.

“
I was, I’m back now.”

“
Then let’s get this over with.” Lila followed the fence and Izzy followed Lila till it ended at the cliff face and what looked like a wall of solid grey fog. Somewhere out there was Reno, the most beautiful city in the world as far as Izzy was concerned, but she couldn’t see it. She could barely make out Lila, who was only a few feet in front of her as she reached around the last fence post, grabbed onto the chain link, pulling herself around, spider like, onto the fence.

“
Holy shit!” Izzy said. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“
Sure you can.” Lila crab crawled on the fence around to the the other side and once safely on the ground, looking almost angelic in the mysterious fog, said, “Now you.”

“
Yeah, now me,” Izzy muttered. She moved to the cliff edge, stared out into the grey nothing, feeling that, despite the fog, a million eyes were on her as she grabbed a breath, reached around the insulated post, grabbed onto the chain link as Lila had done and pulled herself around, jumping off into the nothing fog, pulling herself onto the fence, even as the weight of the duster and all the gear she was carrying threatened to pull her off and to her death below.

Cold lightning jacked from the base of her neck to her tailbone, turning into hot electricity, shooting back up her spine to the very animal center of her brain, where it landed like ice. The fingers of her left hand, holding onto the chain link, were scalding hot and freezing cold at the same time as she hung by one hand in the nothing.

Panicking, she flayed wildly with her right hand and feet as she felt her grip loosening. She was going to fall.

“
Izzy!” Lila shouted. “Focus!”

* * *

“
Did you hear that?” Tucker Wayne said.

“
It’s Lila,” Manny said. “I’d know her voice anywhere.”

“
But where did it come from?” Peeps said. “The back, the front, inside the fence or out? It sounded like it just came out of the fog, like it was everywhere.”

“
Your ears are playing tricks with your head,” Tucker said. “They’re out front, where else could they be?”

“
He’s right,” Manny said. “Let’s get out there.”

“
What about us?” Peeps said.

“
Good question,” Manny said. “I’d half thought Dr. Eisenhower would call and come up here in a civilized fashion. We’d talk, she’d work with us and in the end, everybody would get what they want.” He looked toward the floor, shook his head, as if he were speaking about a child who’d failed to mind, like he was about to spank it. “But she’s obviously turned Lila to her side. How I don’t know, because I’d thought Lila was loyal. I’ve done everything for that girl.”

“
I never really liked her,” Tucker said.

“
Oh stop,” Manny said. “You’ve wanted to fuck her ever since I took her in, but she saw through you and wouldn’t have any of your bullshit.”

Mouledoux heard respect and maybe even a little love in Manny’s voice when he talked of Lila Booth and he also heard the derision he felt toward his son. But as much as he seemed to care about Booth, he was willing to throw her to the wolves to get Eisenhower’s secret.

“
Fucking and liking are two different things,” Tucker said.

“
Yeah, yeah.” Manny waved a hand in front of himself, dismissing Tucker as he turned toward Peeps. “Coming up through the back isn’t possible. They’re out front. How they plan on getting in, I don’t know, but Lila’s brilliant, she’s got a plan.”

“
So,” Peeps said, “you want us up front with you?”

“
No, we’ve got the front covered, but there is that one in a million chance Lila could figure a way to get in through the back. You two stay here.” He turned to go, stopped, turned back to face Peeps. “Besides, we need somebody in the house in the unlikely event they get in. Leaving the house empty would be just plain stupid.” Again he shook his head. “I’d planned on staying inside myself, with a couple of my men, but with the communications out and this fog, I need all my men outside, but someone’s gotta be the last line of defense with me, so it looks like you two are it.”

“
You’re staying in the house?” Tucker said.

“
Yes, if Lila gets in, I want to be here to greet her.”

“
What about me?”

“
You’ll be in charge out front.”

“
Alright.” Tucker seemed to swell before Mouledoux’s eyes and it seemed to him that perhaps Mansfield Wayne kept a tighter reign on his son than people realized.

“
I’ll keep watch from the living room window,” Mansfield said, “which covers the right side of the house and Peeps, on second thought, you should come up front with me and take the den on the left side. Fog or no, if those women get past the men out front, we should see them. As far as Lila is concerned, shoot to kill. Wound Eisenhower if you have to, but I want her alive.”

“
Got it.” Peeps seemed to be puffing up like Tucker had only a few seconds ago. What was it with this frail old man that made people turn themselves into lapdogs? Was it the money? Peeps had been a good cop once, now he wasn’t. Mouledoux found it hard to believe he’d been bought for just dollars.

“
You’ll be alone back here, Bobby,” Mansfield said and that reconfirmed everything Mouledoux had been thinking. They didn’t expect a threat from the back and that’s where Manny had wanted him. Old Manny Wayne didn’t trust him and come morning, if he’s successful tonight and gets his hands on Eisenhower and her secret, his fate was going to be the same as Lila Booth’s.

“
Right,” Mouledoux said.

“
Don’t think I have you back here because I don’t trust you,” Manny said, almost as if he’d been reading Mouledoux’s mind, “because I do. Peeps vouched for you and that’s good enough for me.”

“
Okay.” Mouledoux wasn’t believing a word coming out of the old man’s mouth.

“
It’s just that I trust my men more. They’ve been with me a long time.”

“
I understand,” Mouledoux said.

“
Okay, let’s get ready.” Manny turned to go. “Be on your guard, Tucker.”

“
She won’t get by us,” Tucker said and then they were gone.

Mouledoux heard the front door open and close. Tucker was out front now with Manny’s mini army. Any minute now it was going to start.

* * *

Izzy clung to the fence for all she was worth. Seconds ago she’d panicked like a schoolgirl face to face with a spider in the sandbox. Lila’s shout brought her out of her panic attack, but only long enough for her to grab onto the fence with her free hand and then, with a superhuman effort, she somehow got toeholds into the chain link.

Then the panic was back. She was frozen with fear, hanging on the fence.

“
Izzy, you can do this,” Lila said. “Open your eyes and look at me.”

She hadn’t realized she’d shut her eyes. She was shutting down. She couldn’t. Not now, not here. She opened her eyes, saw Lila flanked by the dogs.

“
I’m stuck.” She was whimpering and she didn’t like the sound of it.

“
You’re afraid of heights?”

“
Maybe, a little.” She forced a smile.

“
But you made it up the ledge.”

“
It wasn’t easy.”

“
You shoulda said.”

“
I thought I was over it.”

“
You have to come round to this side,” Lila said. “Close your eyes again. Shut out everything. Make your mind a blank and do it by feel.”

“
I’ll try.”

“
You can do it.”

Izzy closed her eyes again, but this time she wasn’t squeezing them shut. She took a deep breath, held it, determined not to exhale till she was on the other side, which was only a couple seconds away, if only she could move.

She felt sweat trickling under her arms, chilling her. But the chill wasn’t from the icy sweat, because the cold night hadn’t been an issue. It was fear, pure and simple. She’d been frozen with it and the chill was as icy cold as an Arctic winter.

Her left hand, the one that had been clinging to the fence while she’d been flaying about during her panic attack, felt like it was on fire, like it had been packed in snow, then shoved into scalding water. It was a useless claw and it was betraying her, because without it, magic blood or no, she was going to die out here, because she couldn’t hold on forever.

“
Listen to me now and put everything else out of your mind.” Lila was speaking in a soothing voice, like a hypnotist. “Move your left hand a couple inches to the left. It’s easy, just a tiny bit, that’s all.” Lila’s voice seemed to wash over her, bathing her in just enough confidence to relax the fingers of her left hand as she defied the impossible and tried to tighten her grip on the fence with her right.

And the fiery pain in her left hand intensified and as if that weren’t enough, her right hand felt like it was on fire now as well and the cold lighting that had been shooting up and down her spine was turning hot. She was racked with sweat, felt it on her hands. They were turning clammy, slippery.