Nine
Abraham Darker’s pickup truck approached from Silver
Ridge. Billy Trevor had less warning than he had planned. An early
shower had muddied a few camera lenses hidden about town. Only one of
them logged the approach of the truck and set off warning beepers. When
the old Ford Ranger pulled up to the gate, Billy sat before his monitors,
indecisive and frightened.
Abe’s voice rang through the control center over the
intercom. “I know you’re in there, Trevor. Let me in. I want to talk to
you about Evie.”
Billy opened the gate at the base of the hill, then
spun about in his chair. “Attend!” he called out, and a small army of
wandering sentinels converged on him from all corners of his underground
quarters. They followed him into the elevator. When it opened onto the
spacious morning room of the mansion, they rushed ahead and spread across
the polished wood of the ground floor.
“Alert!”
They spun about in unison to face him.
“Conceal!”
They resumed their random motions, but stopped
beneath the cover of furniture whenever they reached an adequate hiding
spot. Within minutes, they became invisible, unless one knew where to
look and what to look for.
Abe pounded at the door.
“Enter!”
The door opened of its own accord. Abe stood in the
glare of sunlight like some primitive warrior reluctant to enter the lair
of an unpredictable enemy. Clearly intimidated by the size of the house,
he ventured a step inside, then paused. Billy noticed how well the man
concealed his moment of fright when the door closed behind him.
Abe then relaxed as unselfconsciously as a cat. He
stepped from beneath the lower ceiling of the vestibule into the
magnificence of the ground floor reception hall and took in the twin
staircases, the overhanging balconies and the skylights streaming
sunshine. He then shifted his attention to the single inhabitant of the
room. He drew closer and offered a tentative nod of greeting to the young
man in the wheelchair.
“Abraham,” Billy said, aware of how soft and feminine
his voice sounded in contrast to Abraham’s guttural bass. The man was a
walking terror, six and a half feet in height, broad across the shoulders
and narrow at the hips. Clenched fists hung at his side. He had his head
cocked slightly to one side, and his straight, black hair hung in an
unkempt mass across his right shoulder. His angular face and brow framed
eyes as dark as midnight.
“We’ve only met once before,” Abe rumbled. “I warned
you about Evie. You must not have listened too good.”
“You said her brothers wouldn’t take kindly to
strangers courting Evie. You didn’t say that one of them would try to
kill me.”
“That was Lazarus’ doing. He got beat good for
that. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. There’s never
been bad blood between the Darkers and the Trevors. We’ve worked for your
people for a hundred years, clean back to my great grandpa’s day. We
never meant for Lazarus to do what he did to you. We thought for sure
you’d send the police after us. I’d like to know why you didn’t. Are you
planning on getting back at us yourself? Is that why you came back?”
“I’m not here for that,” Billy said.
“Then you came back for Evie, except that I don’t
want to see our sister used and discarded by people who think themselves
better than the Darkers.”
Billy sat rigid in his wheelchair. He had not wanted
to discuss Evie so soon, not until he could deal better with his
paralysis. “I’m not sure I’d be in Evie’s best interests as things
stand. I came here because it was the only place I could be alone. I
used to come here during the summers before the accident.”
Abe nodded absently. “You flew them radio-controlled
airplanes. The kids loved them. I never held it against you that you
courted Evie, except that I was afraid of what Lazarus might do. I’m not
always around to keep him out of trouble. Lazarus has got funny feelings
toward his sister. But, like I said, there’s never been bad blood between
our people.”
Billy had to cut through the hesitant silence that
followed. “What do you want? Does Evie know I’m back?”
Abe glowered with anger. “Don’t play games with me.”
Billy grew suddenly agitated. What was happening
that he didn’t know about? Was it something Corin had done without his
knowledge? “I don’t understand...”
“Evie says they’re machines. Machines that sting
like hornets and glow in the dark and run as fast as rats. It don’t seem
likely, but who else but you could be responsible?”
Billy took a deep breath and tried to hide his
upset. That had to be Corin’s doing. Corin was acting behind his back
again. “I don’t think I would have been able to leave here without at
least trying to talk to her,” Billy said, reaching for words that would
mollify the man. “I should have talked to you first. It just never
occurred to me to try.”
Abe nodded satisfaction with that response, but he
paced about restlessly. “I’ve got important business going in town. I’m
going to get in over my head if I can’t keep things under control. I sure
as hell can’t afford trouble with you.”
His tone of voice was suddenly conciliatory. “I’ve
kept the Darkers together all these years. Now people are telling me that
it might not be for the best.”
Billy waited out the torturous pause. Abe was taut,
nervous.
“I’ll make you a deal, Trevor. If you want Evie,
I’ll bring her to you and give you my blessing, but only on two
conditions. One, take her and leave Silver Ridge. Do it now, before
things get out of hand. I’m sorry you got hurt, but what’s done is done.
All I can do is to keep it from getting worse. And treat Evie with
respect. Bring her back to me if she wants to come home. If you hurt
her, you’ll answer to me.”
Billy nodded tentatively, too confused by Abraham’s
behavior to do more than accept what was offered. “If that’s what Evie
wants, I’ll agree.”
“That’s the way it’s going to be. You got a Darker’s
word on it.”
Abe turned and left the house. Billy waited until
Abe was gone, then released his pent up anger in a cry of anguish. The
little machines swarmed from concealment and formed a semicircle in front
of his wheelchair.
“Billy...”
Billy jammed his fists against the side of his head.
“No! I told you never to talk to me inside my head!”
Billy went back down to the control room and brought
a word processor up on a spare computer with which to communicate with
Corin.
His cry sounded like a woman’s scream. “What in
God’s name do you think you’re doing!”
ACCLIMATIZING EVIE TO CIRCUMSTANCES TO WHICH SHE MUST
ADAPT, his fingers typed.
“She’ll never come back to me under these…
circumstances!”
I REMEMBER EVIE FROM MY OWN PAST. SHE IS MORE
VERSATILE THAN YOU KNOW.
“Versatile? Versatile, for the love of God?”
ADAPTABLE. RESILIENT.
Billy’s agitation grew by leaps and bounds. “How can
you remember Evie from your past? Evie is now!”
ALL MOMENTS IN TIME ARE NOW, BILLY.
“I’ve heard enough of the metaphysical bullshit!
Corin, you had no right!”
I REMEMBER EVIE, BILLY. WHAT MORE CAN I SAY? SHE’S
IMPORTANT TO YOU. MY MISSION WILL FAIL IF EITHER OF YOU COME TO HARM.
“And what happens when she gets here?” Billy’s hands
were shaking so badly, he feared Corin would not be able to type out a
response. “How are you planning on introducing yourself?”
Corin remained silent for a moment, always an
indication of deep thought or indecision on his part. WE NEED HER WITH
US.
“That’s not an answer to my question!”
WHEN MY MISSION IS FINISHED, I WILL LEAVE. YOU WILL
HAVE EVIE TO YOURSELF.
Billy lifted himself halfway out of his chair. His
cry of anger echoed through the empty bunker. “What am I supposed to do
with her! I can’t walk! I can’t feel anything below my waist!”
His fingers twitched, anxious to deliver a response
on the keyboard. Billy stuffed them between his unfeeling thighs. “No,
no more right now. Just don’t push me too far, unless maybe you’ve
developed a taste for Thorazine and shock treatments.”
Billy managed a cold chuckle of triumph for whatever
his petty victory was worth. “We don’t want to go through that again, do
we?”
Corin fell promptly silent within him. Sarah and her
new boyfriend knew how he and Corin had outwitted the psychiatrists.
They’d quickly become his worst enemies if they saw him and Corin engaged
in a power struggle. Escape would be far less likely should they fall
into the good doctor’s hands under those circumstances.
Billy leaned his head back in the chair. He closed
his eyes and basked in the merciful silence. Maybe, just maybe, they were
right after all. Maybe he wasn’t sane.
Neither one of him.
