The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Book One (10 page)

“I yelled for help. Then I tried to get behind the desk so I could use the phone. But he pointed his gun at me. If I did anything, he was going to shoot me.

“He kept smiling like we're friends or something.”

Linden listened carefully, setting her own thoughts and her secret knowledge aside. Roger had to be stopped.
He's in my mind,
Joan had once told Thomas Covenant,
and I can't get him out. He hates you.

“Then Bill Coty came in.” Harry's tension mounted as he continued. “He wasn't
supposed to be here. He's off duty, isn't he? But he had his Mace, and he held it up like it could stop bullets. He told him to put the gun down.”

The harm that Roger could do was incalculable.

“Avis was there,” Harry said, trembling now. “And Mrs. Clint. They must've heard me yelling.” Or the sound of Roger's handgun. “Avis wanted to do something, you know what he's like, but she made him stay where he was.

“Bill was scared, you could see that, but he kept telling him to put the gun down, put the gun down.
He
just smiled and smiled, and I thought he wasn't going to do anything, but all at once he pointed the gun at Bill and fired, and Bill went down like someone kicked him in the head.”

Linden closed her eyes slowly, held them shut for a moment to contain her regret. She had told Bill that Roger was not dangerous.

Harry was saying, “That's when Avis ran at him, even though Mrs. Clint was yelling at him to stop. Avis tried to tackle him, but he just turned and hit him with the gun, hit him so hard his head bounced.”

Deliberately she opened her eyes again.

Behind Harry, Sheriff Lytton waited with badly concealed impatience. His officers listened as if they were stunned, although they must have heard Harry's story earlier.

Where had Roger acquired such murderous skills?

“Avis fell down,” Harry said, shaking. “He had blood all over him.

“Then he wasn't here anymore. I didn't even see where he went, but he took Mrs. Clint with him. He made her go.

“I called the sheriff right away, right away. I was going to call you, too, but I had to take care of Avis.”

Belatedly Linden noticed another pool of blood off to the side of Bill's body. Drying smears marked the front and sleeves of Harry's pale-green orderly's uniform. He must have taken Avis' head in his arms, cradled the big man like a brother.

“He kept bleeding—” Harry's voice shivered on the verge of hysteria. “I couldn't make it stop. I called Emergency, I told them stat, Avis was dying, I couldn't look at Bill but I thought he was already dead.

“I did everything I could, Doctor.” His eyes implored Linden to tell him that he was not to blame. “Honest, I did.”

His appeal touched her, but she had no room for it.

At the back of the lobby, Maxine released herself from Ernie's arms. Moving between the silent officers, she came forward to stand beside Harry, place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Her kind face regarded him sadly.

The officers began to shift their feet and look around as if they were rousing themselves from a trance.

“Dr. Panger has Avis in surgery,” Maxine told Linden. “He may have bone splinters in his brain.”

Linden nodded an acknowledgment—Curt Panger was more than competent—but she was not done with Harry. “Did you see him leave?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, yes,” Harry answered. “Right after I called Emergency. He had Joan, and Mrs. Clint. Joan went with him like she wanted to go, but he had to keep his gun pointed at Mrs. Clint. I hid behind the desk so he didn't see me.”

Lytton cleared his throat fiercely. “He has a hostage, Dr. Avery.” His voice seemed to grate against his teeth. “We're wasting time here. I need to talk to you.”

Linden turned her attention to him at last. “And I need to talk to you.” The fact that Roger had taken a hostage meant that he was not finished yet. If he had simply wanted his mother, a hostage would only slow him down.

He intended more harm.

Sara Clint was a good nurse, levelheaded and compassionate. She had a husband and two daughters. She did not deserve this.

Joan herself did not deserve it.

“Fine,” Lytton growled. “So tell me just how the hell you knew this was going to happen.”

“Not here,” Linden countered. “In my office.” He was more likely to tell her the truth if they were alone.

Stifling an impulse to hurry, she took a moment to ask Maxine to call for a nurse to replace Sara. She did not want to leave Harry on duty alone in his condition. Then she beckoned for the sheriff to follow her and headed toward her office.

His heavy boots stamped behind her on the tile as if he were cursing.

In her office, she sat down behind her desk, anchoring herself on her medical authority. She wanted Barton Lytton to know that she was not a woman whom he could intimidate.

He began at once. Towering at the edge of her desk, he announced in a rough voice, “I need to know what you know. We have to find that little shit.” He glowered down at her as if she could free him to act on his outrage and frustration. “He sure as hell won't take her to Haven Farm. Not unless he's begging to get caught. The Clints are decent people. I'm not going to let him get away with this.

“Tell me now, Doctor. How the fuck did you know what he would do?”

The sheriff was wrong. Roger expected to be caught; wanted that for some reason. Why else did he need a hostage?

“I knew,” she retorted firmly, “because I pay attention.” The haunted ire and need in his eyes had not changed, but now it did not sway her. “I could see as soon as I met him that he was unstable. He kept repeating that he wanted to take care of Joan, but his
manner was all wrong. He didn't act like a loving son. The way he talked convinced me that the only thing he really cared about was getting her away from here.

“I tried to tell you. He wants to do something to her.”

Lytton propped his fists on her desk, leaned his bulk onto his arms. In spite of his posture, however, his eyes flinched. “You're not helping, Doctor,” he said softly. “Telling me I fucked up doesn't do shit for Sara Clint. We've got to get her back.

“I need to know where he's going. Hell, he could be halfway out of the county by now. I can call in help. We can set up roadblocks, try to stop him. But there are too many small roads. We can't block them all. Hell, we don't even know what kind of car he drives. That fool Gund was too scared to look.

“And while we're sitting at roadblocks, he can hole up anywhere he wants. We'll never find him. Until he's already done”—Lytton swallowed hard—“whatever the fuck he has in mind.

“It's too late to tell me I should have listened to you. Tell me how to find him.”

Linden recognized the justice of his response. In some sense, she respected it. But she was not moved. The look in his eyes disturbed her. Their mix of fear and fury seemed to promise butchery.

Terrible things might happen to Joan and Sara if Lytton tried to kill Roger—

Linden held the sheriff's gaze until he looked away. Then, distinctly, she said, “There's something I need to know first.”

“Are you shitting me?” he protested. “Roger Covenant has a fucking
hostage,
he has
Sara Clint
! We need to
move
! What can you possibly need to know
first
?”

Linden did not relent. Instead she said precisely, “When Julius Berenford found Joan on Haven Farm ten years ago, she was sane. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, but she could talk. She could
function,
at least to some extent. But by the time you delivered her to County Hospital, Sheriff Lytton, she was a vegetable. Entirely out of reach. If we didn't take such good care of her, she would have died years ago.

“What happened while you were driving her back into town? What changed her?”

With a jerk, Lytton pulled himself upright. A sudden flush darkened his cheeks. Glaring at the center of Linden's forehead, he said, “We've had this conversation, Doctor.”

“Yes, we have,” she insisted. “But I need a better answer. It's time to talk about it. Tell me what happened.”

Her pager chirped at her, but she ignored it. She had come too far and waited too long to let Barton Lytton evade her now.

Darkness spread down Lytton's neck, staining his skin with threats. Yet he could not conceal his fear. His eyes seemed to cower in their sockets. Linden thought that he
might refuse to answer; but she had underestimated his rage—or his shame. Abruptly he bared his teeth as if he were grinning. His eyes found hers in defiance.

“Oh, it's nothing much,” he answered between his teeth. “I didn't
hurt
her or anything, if that's what you think.

“Of course, I cuffed her. She was a fucking
accessory,
for God's sake. For all I knew, she'd killed her damn ex.” He faltered for an instant, wincing. Then he rasped, “After that, I made her ride in back.”

The back of a police car: the cage. Bars between her and the front seat. No handles inside the doors. Like a dangerous criminal.

After what she had suffered—

“She asked me why,” he went on. “She was fucking hysterical about it. So I told her.”

Linden stared at him. His gaze held a throng of conflicts. Her pager signaled again; but now she could not force herself to glance away from him.

“Told her—?” she asked weakly.

“The truth, Dr. Avery.” His tone was thick with disgust. “Her ex was a fucking
leper.
And she was married to him before she knew he had it. She probably had it herself. Hell, she probably still does. If nothing else, she's a damn carrier.

“I made her ride in back because I didn't want to be
infected.
”

Linden heard him clearly. He was trying to sound justified. But he failed. The plain cruelty of his actions defeated him.

Before she could react, he leaned over her desk again. “That upsets you, doesn't it, Doctor. You don't think I should have been so
mean
to her.

“Well, fuck you. We should have talked about your complicity in that murder
ten years ago.
You're an accessory too, but the sainted Julius Berenford protected you. The two of you hid the truth. I'm the
sheriff
of this county, and you didn't let me do my
job.

“Now you're at it again. But this time you won't get away with it. I'll find them without you. And when I do, I'm going to make
damn
sure you get your share of the blame.”

Then he stood up and wheeled out of her office. Before he reached the lobby, he started shouting orders at his deputies.

Linden swore to herself. She could have told him where to look for Roger. She should have. But she did not trust him. He was too eager for violence. His solution to Joan's dilemma might leave no one alive.

Her pager beeped again, insisting on her attention. Reluctantly she looked down at its display.

For a moment, she did not recognize the number. She stared at it, frowning, while she pushed the button to make the pager stop chirping.

Who—?

Then she had it: Megan Roman. That was Megan's home phone number.

She groaned under her breath. She did not feel equal to the challenge of telling Megan about Bill and Joan and Sara.

But what else did she propose to do, now that she had driven Barton Lytton away? Go after Roger on her own? No. She would not risk her life—risk abandoning Jeremiah—in that way. And it was possible that Megan would be able to help—

She might know someone in the State Highway Patrol. Or, better yet, the FBI. Kidnapping was a federal crime, was it not? Megan might be able to have Joan's plight, and Sara's, taken out of Lytton's hands.

Swallowing her reluctance, Linden reached for her phone and dialed Megan's number.

The lawyer picked up almost instantly. “Yes?”

“Megan, it's Linden.”

“Linden,”
Megan cried at once,
“where are you?”

Her urgency seemed to knock Linden back in her seat. She heard crises in Megan's voice; dangers she had not imagined. Quickly she asked, “Megan, what's wrong?”

“
Damn
it, Linden!” Megan yelled back. “
Listen
to me. Where
are
you? At the hospital?”

“Yes, I—” Linden began, floundering.

“Then go home!” Megan demanded. “Right now! No matter what you're doing.
Listen!
I heard what happened. Roger and Joan. Sara Clint. Bill Coty.

“I've—” Abruptly she faltered, fell silent. Dead air filled the phone like keening.

“Megan?” Linden urged her friend. “Megan?”

“Oh, Linden.” Without transition, Megan's voice changed. Now she sounded like she was in tears. “I've made a horrible mistake.