The Messenger

12

The stench, Daniel thought, was growing stronger. He tried to breathe through his mouth. It didn’t help.

“Which one of you is bleeding?” the voice asked from a corner in the darkness.

“I am, my lord,” Evan said meekly.

“Hmm. Minor wound, is it?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“A shame.” He paused. “Let me bring a few matters to your attention. What made last night different from most, Daniel?”

“Hawthorne would be separated from the dog, my lord.”

“Not just separated by a few feet, Evan?”

“Yes, my lord. I mean no, my lord-I mean, you’re right as always, my lord. He was to be miles away from the dog.”

“So tell me, Daniel, why have you arrived here without him?”

“We were about to leave the motel, my lord, on our way to watch the house, to look for our best chance to take him, when we got a call from-”

“Yes, I know. Our friend.” He sighed. “I believe the late Eduardo may have been mistaken in his choice. I often regret his lack of skill in choosing good recruits.”

Daniel might have been insulted by this, since Eduardo had recruited him, and Evan as well. But whenever Eduardo’s name was mentioned, he felt a sharp pang of loss. And fear. He could not forget what the dog had done to Eduardo.

“Go on,” the voice said.

Daniel refocused-it was always a mistake to let your attention wander when in the presence of his lordship. “The caller said that Hawthorne rode off on his bike after some kind of fight there-said he left the party about five minutes after he arrived. Made the woman who owns the place mad as fire-in fact, while our contact was calling us, she interrupted him and hung up the phone. He didn’t give us a lot of details, my lord.”

“As I said, I seem to be short of good help these days. Go on.”

“We figured we’d do what we could to stop Hawthorne from getting back to the dog. There was only one place to come at him by the time we heard he was leaving the party. So we waited on a side road until we saw him coming. Then we hit him, and he went flying, but it was only then we noticed that a car was driving some ways behind his motorcycle. Well, it crashed, and there was nowhere for the driver to run, so we took care of business with Hawthorne. Made sure he wasn’t going to come to his feet anytime soon.”

“Hmm.”

Daniel didn’t like the sound of that. He waited, but his master again urged him to continue.

“We decided to take care of whoever was in the car, if the driver had lived. It was a girl. Didn’t look like she made it. But before we could be sure, we heard the dog.”

“Are you certain?”

Daniel felt himself break out in sweat. “Yes, my lord.”

“You don’t really seem to be so sure. I can smell your perspiration, Daniel. Why is that?”

“I get scared thinking of that dog, my lord.”

“So scared that you might run at-oh, say, the sound of a coyote?”

“I hope not, my lord,” Daniel said carefully. “My lord knows best.”

“And when you regained your courage, and went back to look?”

Daniel swallowed hard. “We did not regain our courage, my lord.”

“You disgust me. So now there may be someone who bore witness to all of this?”

“Yes, my lord. But our faces were covered. We wore these coveralls. We took the plates off the truck.”

“Plates?”

“The license plates, my lord. The ones that identify the vehicle.”

“Ah yes. That is something, in any case. Bring the candle and the map to the table, both of you.”

They both hated the table. A large wooden affair, it was never free of bits of hair and bone. The manacles at the corners hung empty, never yet used in their presence, but each heavy iron cuff carried its own threat. Evan and Daniel were fearful of the table, but they came forward immediately and spread the map out on its stained surface.

Daniel could feel the coldness shifting in the room even before the stench grew stronger. His lordship was within striking distance.

“Point to the place where this happened.”

They searched until they found the spot. Evan pointed at it.

“Step away. Take the candle.”

They did so.

There was a roaring sound. They cowered together.

“You damned idiots! Do you not see? Of course not! What do you know of such things? You struck him at a crossroads. Near a cemetery. You fools never stood a chance of taking him there!”

There was a silence. Daniel felt Evan shiver against him.

“I will say,” the voice said calmly, “that the dog was undoubtedly nearby. That would be where he left it. Did you reconnoiter the area at all, Evan?”

“No, my lord. We barely had time to get in position to hit him with the truck.”

After another long silence, he said, “Go back to this place. If you can discover who the witness is, do so. In any case, bring our little friend to me.”

“Here?” Evan said, only remembering in the nick of time to add, “My lord?”

“Now, Evan, where else would I be?” the voice said bitterly.