Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep 1)

A few of the other guys laughed, but Vic didn’t and neither did Tow-?Truck Eddie. The big man’s face was almost thoughtful, but he didn’t say a word. Vic on the other hand flapped an arm at the others to shut them up.

“Bullshit, Jimmy. This motherfucker ain’t afraid of what might be out here in the dark because he’s what’s out here in the dark. ”

It took Polk and the others a couple of seconds to sort that out. Tow-?Truck Eddie just inhaled and exhaled, slowly and deeply, through his nose.

“What kind of shit is this?” the Bone Man said, staring Vic right in the eye. “That’s jus’ bullshit and you know it. ”

“Is it?” barked Crow, and Vic snapped, “Then why you got blood on your shirt?”

The Bone Man glanced involuntarily down at his shirt. It was speckled with blood, though in the darkness it just looked black and wet.

“What’d you do?” Polk sneered. “Cut yourself shaving?”

“Holy shit,” murmured Stosh, who had apparently not noticed it until now.

The Bone Man shook his head. “No, man, this is bullshit. I—”

“Is it your blood?” asked Tow-?Truck Eddie. He had a soft, deep voice. In other circumstances it would have sounded kind.

“No, but—”

“Then whose blood is it?” Bernhardt asked.

Overhead, there was thunder. The Bone Man looked from face to face and then licked his dry lips. “Look…you gotta believe me…. ”

“What is it you want us to believe?” the big man asked, his voice still mild.

“It’s about the killer…I found out who it was been cutting those people up. ” He licked his lips again. “I figured it out. ”

“You figured it out,” Bernhardt said. “You? A corn-?picking nigger migrant worker figured it out when the whole police department hasn’t been able to find a single fucking clue?” He laughed. “Yeah, I’m ready to believe that shit. ”

Vic stepped closer, his fists balled at his sides and his eyes suddenly intense. In a tight whisper he said, “And just who do you think it is?”

The Bone Man started to say Ubel Griswold. It got as far as his tongue, his lips had just started to form the first sound when Vic hit him with such shocking speed and force that the Bone Man flew backward against Tow-?Truck Eddie’s chest. It was like hitting a brick wall.

“Fuck you!” screamed Vic. “Whose blood is on your shirt? What the hell did you do?” He was screaming, totally out of control, as if someone had jabbed him with a hot wire. He stepped into the Bone Man and struck him again, and again.

“Is that the piece of shit killed my boy?” Crow yelled, his expression of cruel delight giving way to real rage. “Give him to me, Vic…” But Vic was raining down blows on the Bone Man with an insane ferocity.

“Stop!” the Bone Man screamed back, his mouth filling with blood. “Jesus, please make him stop!” He tried to cover his face with both arms the way a boxer does, tried to turn and twist to roll with blows, but even flipped out with rage, Vic Wingate was a good fighter. He used short hooks to claw the Bone Man’s arms away and fired straight jabs and crosses to the chest and face and throat. Vic’s hands were iron hammers and under the rain of blows the Bone Man could feel his face break and split.

Tow-?Truck Eddie wrapped his arms around the Bone Man and spun him away from Vic. The other men, shocked by Vic’s sudden rage, felt their own anger dampening down. They milled, confused and embarrassed. Vic threw one more punch and it just bounced off Eddie’s huge shoulder.

The Bone Man felt his legs buckle, but he didn’t fall. Tow-?Truck Eddie took bunched handfuls of the front of his shirt and held him up. He leaned in close, his pale eyes burning with a weird light.

“Mr. Morse,” he said softly—so softly that only he, the Bone Man, and Vic could hear him. The Bone Man’s head lolled on a loose neck and sunbursts were exploding in his eyes. His ears rang like church bells. “Mr. Morse, tell me what you did tonight. Tell me whose blood this is. ”

The Bone Man stared through the fireworks and tried to focus on the big man’s kind eyes. He looked deep into those eyes, searching for hope, or maybe an ally. “Don’t hurt me,” he whispered and was immediately ashamed of his cowardice. An hour ago he’d chased a monster down and killed him, and now he was pleading for his life from a group of Pennsylvania rednecks.

“Tell me, Mr. Morse. ”

“Damn it, Eddie, let me have him!” Vic snarled and tried to reach around the big man. Eddie turned again, blocking Vic’s reach with his broad back. He pushed the Bone Man up against the side of Vic’s pickup truck and leaned his face close.

“Tell me and I’ll stop all of this, Mr. Morse,” whispered Eddie.

The Bone Man thought he saw some kindly lights in the big man’s eyes. He turned his head and spat blood onto the gravel and then through a tight throat said, “It was Griswold. ”

The big man’s face didn’t change.