“You still think this was zombies, Keith?” Tom asked quietly.
Strunk cursed continuously for more than a minute without repeating himself once. Benny was impressed, and he agreed with the captain’s sentiments. Killing the artist had not been enough. The murderers had destroyed every last bit of the man’s work. There was not one single piece of undamaged art in the whole place. And the carnage went beyond that. Every plate was broken, every bottle smashed, every piece of furniture kicked apart and broken into kindling.
“This is rage,” Strunk said.
“Yes, it is,” said Tom. “And it makes me wonder if maybe Rob didn’t give them what they wanted. ”
“What is it they wanted, Tom?” Strunk asked.
Tom eased the hammer down and slid his gun into its holster. In the torch’s yellow glow his face looked older, harsher. “I told only a couple of people where I last saw the Lost Girl. Rob was one, and today Charlie saw Rob talking to Benny about the Lost Girl. I think they tried to torture the information out of him. ”
Benny stiffened and grabbed his brother’s arm. “Wait! You said that there were only a couple of people you told about the Lost Girl. Who else did you tell?”
Tom’s face went white, and his eyes snapped wide. “I’m a bloody fool!”
“What is it?” Strunk demanded.
“God, I hope I haven’t gotten them killed!”
Tom shoved past Strunk and bolted from the house. Benny and the captain ran after him, but by the time they were on the top step, Tom was a block away and running full tilt for the poor side of town.
“Where’s he going?” Strunk asked, grabbing Benny’s shoulder.
Benny shook off the grab and ran after his brother without answering. He already knew where Tom was going. There was only one other person Tom trusted that much.
Jessie Riley.
As he ran, Benny repeated a single word over and over:
“Nix. ”
29
BENNY RAN AS FAST HE COULD, AND EVEN THOUGH TOM WAS FAR AHEAD, by the time they passed the stables, Benny had caught up. Captain Strunk was blocks behind. As they passed the long, flat Ration Office, they ran abreast, and it was side-by-side that they jumped the hedges on the left side of the Riley property. They skidded to a halt in the wet grass.
A boy sat on the top step of the tiny house. He was neatly dressed, and he held a small bunch of daffodils in one hand, the flowers lying in twisted tangles across his thighs.
Benny said, with total surprise, “Morgie?”
The boy did not move. His head was bowed forward, as if he dozed there on the porch step. Moonlight was breaking through the cloud cover, and in its wan glow, Morgie’s face looked unnaturally pale.
“Careful, Benny,” Tom warned. He drew his sword and looked up and down the street, but except for the flicker of torchlight, nothing moved. The only sound was the nervous nickering and blowing of horses in the stables.
Benny took a step forward. Morgie sat still, his arms crossed over his stomach, his knees pressed together. He looked like he was huddled there against the cold rain and had fallen asleep. Except that his clothes were dry.
“Morgie? Are you okay, man?”
Morgie did not raise his head or move in any way.
“C’mon … don’t do this to me, Morg,” urged Benny as he moved closer. He brought the bokken in front of him, taking it with both hands. “Give me something here, man. ”
Slowly, awkwardly, Morgie Mitchell raised his head, and what Benny saw tore a gasp from him. Morgie’s face was as icy pale as the moon. His eyes were dark and uncomprehending, sunk into shadowy pits, his lips slack.
There was fresh blood on his lips. It glistened like oil in the moonlight.
“No …” Benny’s breaths burned in his lungs, and he shook his head, denying the possibility of this.
Tom raised his sword over his shoulder, the steel glittering in the cold moonlight.