Chapter 30
I WANTED to head straight for the nearest police station, but Brenda vetoed me, pleading in a loud and choked voice that she wanted to go home to Derek. We were headed in that direction so I gave in. I could drop her off and then check in with Lieutenant Carson or whoever was around that I knew and see if there was anything I could do. Traffic was light since it was still the wee hours and the middle of the week. We made good time downtown and were soon pulling into the parking garage of the Whitcomb Towers Apartments. Before we got out of the car, I took off my jacket and handed it back for Brenda to wear. If we ran across any of her new neighbors on the way up to the twentieth floor I didn’t want them to see her mostly naked. They might not approve. Or they might approve too much, which could bring another set of problems.
We took the connecting hall that led to the apartment building itself. Brenda was holding my jacket tightly closed as she scooted along in her heels. “What do you think happened to Tiff and Craig?”
“I imagine he headed for the nearest hospital,” I said. “You can call Methodist, if you like. I imagine that’s where they went.”
We passed a guy coming out of the elevators. His eyes bugged as he caught sight of us, looking first at me, then for a longer time at Brenda, and finally at Robbie. I don’t know how clearly he could see Robbie, but the guy’s expression was enough to show that he knew someone was there. He moved faster as he walked away from us, glancing back twice while we trundled into the elevator car.
When Derek opened the door he looked weary at first. Then he got a good look at us, and he gasped. Pulling Brenda into a hug, he asked, “What happened? Oh, my God, are you all right?”
Brenda’s tears began flowing again. I had thought she was all cried out, but apparently she had some reserves. She couldn’t answer, so I did. “We ran into a little trouble.” We went inside, and I briefly recounted our night. Derek’s grip on his wife tightened as he listened.
“Holy shit,” was his only comment.
Robbie walked into the living room. It was all a jumble of boxes and packing materials but there was a couch, some chairs, and a big plasma television that had already been hooked up. It wasn’t on. The furniture I assumed was a gift from Ma Sanderson. I couldn’t imagine that it was purchased on Derek’s junkyard money. It could have been paid for by Brenda, I supposed, but that would have been a lot of stuffed dollar bills and lap dances. I looked around for a phone. The battery on my cell was dead. There was one on a small table by the couch. “Mind if I make a call?”
Derek nodded. Brenda’s face was buried in his chest. Robbie was wandering around aimlessly. The sliding glass door leading to the balcony was open, making the living room a little too cool. A new grill was sitting out there, having been newly assembled. That had obviously been what Derek had been working on when we arrived. Robbie sauntered out onto the balcony as I dialed.
Before I completed the number, though, my blood froze. Seconds later there was a quiet knock at the door. Not good. Satterfield had followed us. I had been in such a hurry to get away that I hadn’t even bothered to take a more circuitous route to the Whitcomb. There hadn’t been much traffic, and I didn’t notice anyone behind us, but it wouldn’t have been hard to follow our taillights. Satterfield obviously had. I must have really pissed him off.
“Don’t answer that!” I shouted.
I didn’t get it out in time. Derek had disengaged himself from Brenda and had already turned the knob before I got my warning out. The door was shoved open, and Derek grunted as Satterfield plunged his butcher knife into the boy’s gut. Brenda screamed. There was a sick, wet sound as Satterfield twisted the knife before pulling it back out of Derek’s body. The blade shone with dark red blood. I saw Derek’s eyes as he fell to the floor. The boy was dead before he hit.
I dropped the phone and threw myself at Satterfield, making sure to keep myself between him and Brenda. He swung the knife, and he cut me across the right bicep. I felt the sting of the blade, but I couldn’t tell how bad he got me. I lashed out with my left and hit him across the cheek. Robbie had come back into the room and had picked up a flower pot. Weirdly, my mind registered that the flowers were plastic as he hurled the pot at Satterfield. It hit the ghoul in the face but had as much effect as my punch, which wasn’t much. Brenda continued to scream but instead of running into the bedroom and locking herself in, she went for the balcony. Satterfield pushed me aside and went after her.
I got up in time to see Satterfield cornering Brenda at the railing of the balcony. He raised the knife. I ran and leaped onto the ghoul’s back, grabbing at his upraised hand as best I could with my damaged arm. Brenda screamed again and moved just in time. I’d hit Satterfield with enough force that he tumbled forward. We both went over the rail. If Brenda hadn’t moved in time, she’d have gone with us.
My adrenaline was pumping enough that time seemed to be slowed down. I saw something flash in the moonlight and realized that Satterfield’s amulet had come out of his shirt. I grabbed hold of the railing with my right hand and reached out with my left. Satterfield was tumbling in the air, but somehow I grabbed the amulet. I felt the leather strap snap as he fell away from me. The hand not holding the knife made a last, desperate grab at me but not in time. He fell twenty floors.
I was about to join him. I was hanging in the air, holding on to the rail with a cut arm that was gushing blood. What little strength the arm possessed was giving out. I couldn’t haul myself up.
Then a hand grabbed hold of my wrist. Robbie. His face was a study in concentration as he willed himself solid enough to hold on to me. I could even feel him pull. “Come on,” he yelled down at me. “Work with me here!”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m trying!”
“Try harder!” I could see sweat breaking out on his forehead. He was using everything he had just to hold me there. I tried to move but my arm gave out. My fingers let go of the rail. If Robbie hadn’t been holding on, I’d have joined Satterfield on the Super Express Elevator going straight down to the pavement. Robbie pulled. I got hold of the rail again and got my left, good arm up. It was still clutching the amulet. I let it fall onto the balcony and grasped hold of the railing. Robbie pulled harder. I’d never known him to exert so much energy. “I’m not letting you go,” he said.
“I appreciate that!” I said. Poor guy. He was giving it all he had. I could see his image start to fade. I had to say something, just in case I didn’t make it back over the rail. “I love you,” I said.
“Good!” Robbie shouted. “Prove it by pulling yourself back up here!”
I strained every muscle in my arms. Robbie was nearly transparent now. He was just a black and white figure that was there, but not there. He gave one last yank as I put everything I had into one last effort. I went up and over the rail. I felt one of Robbie’s hands gripping the collar of my shirt, getting me the rest of the way over the railing. I tumbled over just as he vanished completely. He was gone. I couldn’t even get a sense of him.
Brenda knelt down to see that I was okay, but then she remembered Derek. There was hurt and anguish in her eyes as she went back inside to him. I got to my feet to see her huddled over by the door, cradling him against her. Her cries were gut-wrenching.
I looked over the rail. Satterfield had hit the sidewalk leading up to the main door of the apartment building. There was no body, however. Just bones and the clothes he’d been wearing, fluttering slightly in the breeze.
I held my arm and went back inside. I was losing a lot of blood, and now that everything was over, it was beginning to smart like hell. Picking up the phone, I dialed 911 while listening to Brenda’s anguished wailing. I couldn’t blame her. She’d lost the man she loved, due to my stupidity really, and for all I knew I’d lost the man I loved as well. Something felt empty inside me. I hadn’t felt that empty since Robbie had first died. Somehow I felt that he’d used so much energy that there was nothing left. I’d never see him again.