Nightworld (Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack) (30 page)

“There!” Thompson said, pointing to the radio. “Am I brilliant or what? Food! Food is going to be the new gold.”

Ernst didn’t come here to listen to Thompson pat himself on the back. He needed help.

“I want to know where you got your storm shutters.”

Thompson grinned. “Why? Want some?”

He hated to admit it, but …

“Yes.”

“After all the stink you made about defacing this wonderful old historic building, now you want them for your office?”

“No … my apartment.”

The grin broadened. “Why? Rough night?”

“You might say that.”

A
very
rough night.

When buying into his building, he’d opted for one of the lower floors. For safety reasons, he wanted quick access to the outside in case of fire or another emergency. Conversely, if a blackout occurred and the elevators were shut down, he didn’t want a long walk up.

But most of the lower floors had taken a beating last night. The bugs broke through his windows and chased him through the apartment. He had to spend all night in the hall closet with those things right outside the door, clawing, chewing, scratching, trying to get in at him.

Horrifying.

With the dawn—the
late
dawn—they’d scurried back to their holes, leaving Ernst with a trashed apartment and severely frazzled nerves.

The first thing he’d done was call the head of the Order’s High Council of Seven to see if he’d had any contact with the One. He hadn’t. And he’d sounded as frightened as Ernst felt.

The conclusion was unmistakable: The One was excluding them from the Change. Which meant they would have to fend for themselves, just like the Great Unwashed.

Unfortunately, certain members of the Great Unwashed, like Hank Thompson, seemed better prepared. When Ernst had arrived at the Lodge this morning he’d noticed its smashed windows and torn screens. Every window but two showed damage: the pair that had been protected by hurricane shutters during the night.

“You want the name of my guy?” Thompson jerked a thumb at his own windows. “The one who did these?”

“I would appreciate it.”

“No good. Had a run on them and he’s outta stock.” He grinned. “Which means you’re outta luck.”

“Well, I’m sure if the price was right—”

“Don’t count on it. Pretty much everybody in the place was chased down to the basement last night. Luckily, there’s no windows down there, so they were safe. But come the dawn, those boys were on the phone and could hardly find anyone even willing to talk to them. Everybody’s got the same idea.”

“I’ll find someone,” Ernst said, with more confidence than he felt.

He
had
to find someone. He could not endure another ordeal like last night. He glanced at his watch. Still early. He had all day. But a day wasn’t what it used to be.

Monroe, Long Island

Sylvia recognized the old man’s voice immediately. A wave of resentment surged through her.

“I hope this isn’t about moving in with you in the city,” she said, controlling her tone. “Pressure tactics won’t work, Mr. Veilleur. I don’t wear down very easily.”

“I’m quite well aware of that, Mrs. Nash. And please call me Glaeken. That’s my real name.”

Sylvia didn’t want to do that. She didn’t wish to be on a first-name basis with this man. So she said nothing.

“I didn’t call to pressure you into anything,” he said after a pause. “I merely wished to inquire as to how you and your household fared last night.”

“We did just fine, thank you.” No thanks to you.

She repressed the urge to tell him that the strange attraction Jeffy had developed for him had nearly cost the boy his life—and Ba’s and her own as well; that if Jeffy hadn’t become so fixated on Glaeken he wouldn’t have wandered off last night. But in the back of her mind she knew Glaeken could crush her with the simple admonishment that a good mother should know the whereabouts of her child. She’d spent most of the night telling herself the same thing, berating herself for letting Jeffy wander off. If only she’d kept an eye on him, Rudy might still be alive and Ba wouldn’t have dozens of ugly wounds on the back of his neck.

“This is a tough old house,” she said. “And with the metal storm shutters we installed yesterday, it’s like a fortress.”

The racket last night had been horrendous. Those things from the hole had pounded incessantly against the shutters until sunrise. Sealed in as they were, the silence from outside had been their only clue that daylight had arrived. She’d greeted the dawn with relief and exhaustion.

“Good,” Glaeken said. “I’m very glad to hear that. I hope your defenses remain as effective against future assaults. But I called for two reasons. The other is to let you know that Jack, the fellow who let you in yesterday, will be stopping by later for a visit.”

“I warned you about pressuring me.”

“Have no fear, Mrs. Nash. He’s not coming to see you. He wishes to speak to Ba.”

“Ba? What does he want with Ba?”

She vaguely remembered the wiry, brown-eyed man Glaeken had mentioned—a rather ordinary-looking sort. She had an impression of him and Ba standing at the back of the living room, speaking together in low tones. So unusual for Ba to speak at all to a stranger that she remembered wondering if they’d met before.

“Perhaps I’d better let Jack explain that himself. Good day, Mrs. Nash.”

WFAN-AM

DAVE: And now our next caller on the FAN sports radio is Rick from Brooklyn. What’s on your mind, Rick?

RICK: Yeah, hi, Dave. I just want to say that I really love your show, and I’d like to talk about the commissioner’s canceling all games indefinitely.

DAVE: What’s wrong with that, Rick?

RICK: It’s not fair to the Mets. They’ve got one of their best teams ever. They was headin’ for the Pennant for sure. I think it’s a dirty trick. And you know what else…?

Monroe, Long Island

Jack arrived in the early afternoon. Sylvia heard him drive up and watched as he got out of a big black car with a damaged paint job and odd reddish stains on the roof and driver door. Since Ba was outside, reinforcing whatever weak points he could find in the house’s defenses, and Alan was in the back tossing a football to Jeffy, Sylvia went downstairs to let him in. He didn’t come to the door, however. Instead, he walked around to the side of the house to where Ba was working.

What on earth could those two have in common? She resisted the temptation to tiptoe to one of the windows and eavesdrop. She’d know soon.

And sure enough, a few minutes later Ba was leading Jack through the back door. Alan rolled in behind them and Jeffy brought up the rear, flipping his football from hand to hand.

“Hi, Mrs. Nash,” Jack said, extending his hand. “We met yesterday.”

She shook it briefly. “I remember.”

“Can we all talk?”

Alan looked at Sylvia and gave her a puzzled shrug. “Why don’t we go into the den,” he said.

Sylvia sent Jeffy upstairs to wash his hands and seated herself where she had a view of the stairway. If Jeffy came down, she’d see him. No wandering off this time. She was determined to know his whereabouts every minute of the day.

Jack seated himself across from her. Ba remained standing near Alan. She sensed his tightly coiled tension.

Jack said, “Do you remember Glaeken talking about a certain pair of necklaces yesterday?”

Sylvia nodded. “The ones supposedly made from the ‘second focus.’”

“Right. Well, he’s located them on Maui, and I’m going to head out there tomorrow to see if I can get them back.”

“I see.” Sylvia kept her tone noncommittal. “What does that have to do with Ba?”

“I’d like him to come along.”

“And what did Ba say?” She suspected the answer but wanted to hear it for herself.

“He refused. Said he couldn’t leave you here unprotected.”

Sylvia turned to him. “Thank you, Ba.”

Ba gave her one of his little bows.

“I respect that,” Jack said, “but I think it’s shortsighted. When the light goes altogether, you’re not going to get a break like this. Those things’ll be at you nonstop. You won’t get a chance to go out and repair the damage and shore up the weak spots. And I don’t care how well fortified you are, Mrs. Nash, sooner or later they’re gonna break through.”

She glanced at Alan, who was nodding silent agreement. And why not? The logic was unassailable.

“You can’t do this alone?”

“I might be able to. I usually work alone, but this is different. Time is critical. I’ve been out in the dark with those things. And I see by Ba’s neck that he has too.”

“So have I,” Sylvia said.

Jack’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Well then, you know what it means to have someone watching your back.”

Sylvia remembered the tentacles entwined in her hair, pulling her backward …

Repressing a shudder, she said, “How long have you known this Glaeken fellow?”

“We met a little over a year ago. We’ve spent most of our time since then trying to prevent all this from happening.”

“But you failed.”

“I think that’s obvious. But even if I’d known him only a few days, I’d be a believer.”

Reluctantly, Sylvia admitted to herself that she too was becoming a believer.

“When would you be leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning. With any luck I’ll have Ba back on your doorstep sometime Tuesday. Wednesday morning at the latest.”

“Two days at the most. You’re sure?”

“Pretty sure. Either I can get the necklaces back or I can’t. I’ll know fairly soon after I get there.”

“Two nights,” she said slowly. “Ba … maybe you should reconsider.”

“No, Missus. It is too dangerous here for you to stay alone.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alan stiffen—a barely perceptible straightening of his spine that would have passed unnoticed by a stranger. But Sylvia knew him too well. Ba would be devastated if he even suspected that his words had stung Alan. He’d never forgive himself.

“Glaeken’s offer still stands,” Jack told her. “Come into the city. Stay in his building. He was right about his place being spared. He’s practically hanging over that hole and he hasn’t been bothered by a single bug.”

Sylvia shook her head. “Out of the question. Alan and I are quite capable of handling the situation. We won’t be driven from our home by these things.” She turned to Ba. “We’re safe in here, Ba. You saw that last night. Once we locked the doors and rolled down the shutters, we had no further problems. Tonight will be the same. And the night after that. And the night after that.”

“Missus, I am not sure—”

“Neither am I, Ba. We can’t be sure of anything anymore. Except perhaps that the situation will steadily deteriorate until we’re all mad or dead.”

“I vowed to protect you, Missus. Always.”

“I know you did, Ba.”

Sylvia’s heart warmed at his unflagging devotion. But that devotion could be a burden as well as a benefit. She took great comfort in knowing she was protected, but she also had to
allow
herself to be protected. And that wasn’t always easy.