The Racer

– You know, I was thinking, – Jerry began, – we’re not leaving soon. Maybe we can go somewhere? I’ll ask my dad for the Chrysler and we’ll head to Corpus Christi or Galveston. If you don’t want the Gulf of Mexico, we can choose something else.

Alexa didn’t make a sound in response.

– Do you hear?

A few more seconds passed before Alexa said:

– I didn’t know how… when…

Alexa hesitated for a long time. As a result, she sat down, straightened her back and only then said, hiding a strand of hair behind her ear:

– I’ve missed a period.

Jerry moved his lips silently for a while, but still asked:

– A-and-and… how long has it been?

– About a month and a half.

– Didn’t you take the test?

Alexa covered her trembling lips with the back of her hand, and then answered:

– I’m afraid.

– Come on. What’s there to be scared of? We need to know for sure.

Alexa wiped away the tears that had accumulated in her eyes, and then said:

– We need to discuss this with parents. I’m afraid to tell mine. My father will kill me. I wanted to ask if yours could help?

– You want…

– Yes. Think about it. What future awaits us? Me? I can forget about university education. There’s only one option.

The guy thought for a moment and said decisively:

– Why do we even need to tell the parents? We will decide everything ourselves.

– Jerry, we are two seventeen-year-old teenagers. We’re not old enough to figure this out.

After a pause, Jerry said:

– Perhaps you’re right. – After a short pause, he added: – I really don’t know…

Jerry’s voice was cut off by a low rumble coming from behind and gradually turning into the roar of an engine. Soon the scarlet lights of the headlights appeared. A black car drove onto the beach and stopped right next to the van. The engine stalled. The headlights went out.

– Do you know who is that? – Alexa asked anxiously.

With some trembling in his chest, Jerry shook his head negatively several times.

The driver’s door of the Dodge opened. His foot landed on the sand. Then the second one. Soon a dark silhouette emerged from behind the door. The Stranger walked around the door, leaving it open and headed towards the teenagers.

– Sit here – Jerry said and walked towards the stranger. Alexa stood up and remained standing there.

As he approached, Jerry began to more clearly examine the Racer’s appearance. One meter eighty centimeters. Oversized shoulders. He was wearing a dark green leather raincoat that reached his knees, a black jumper and black jeans. His hands were hidden under leather gloves, and his face was hidden under a black mask. There were cutouts for the eyes, but inside there was complete darkness. His steps were long, but unhurried. There was a sense of firmness and determination in them.

– Can I help you? – Jerry asked.

The Racer suddenly quickened his pace as he passed Jerry and continued towards Alexa.

– What’s the matter? Hey!? – Alexa shouted at the end and reflexively began to back away, without taking her bulging eyes off the Racer.

But the Racer did not stop, but only continued to speed up his pace.

Alexa turned around in fear and ran along the shore about twenty meters past the boat station office, after which she stopped and turned around. She hardly swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat, continuing to look at the Racer walking on her heels.

– Hey guy? Don’t touch her! I’m talking to you! – Jerry shouted, chasing after the Racer. He ran up to him from behind and said, grabbing his shoulder: – If you have something to say, say it…

His voice broke as the Racer grabbed his hand and squeezed it with his powerful fingers. He crushed the bones in Jerry’s palm, clenching his fingers into a fist. Jerry’s face was hidden under a grimace of silent but hellish pain. Soon he could not stand it and a scream was heard. At that moment, the Racer grabbed Jerry by the neck with his other hand and lifted him, tearing his legs off the sand.

– JERRY! – Alexa screamed hysterically, frozen in place.

The Racer made a sharp movement with his hand and a loud crunch was heard in Jerry’s neck. Then he lifted the guy’s immobilized body a little more and threw it to the side with some ease. Jerry’s body flew through a steel mesh fence and into the boathouse office window. There was a crash of breaking glass, shattered into shards. Jerry’s head, arms and torso were inside on the other side of the broken window, while Jerry’s legs were left dangling outside. His body remained hanging on the windowsill.

Alexa screamed even louder. This scream did not become quieter even after she continued to run away, noticing how the Racer continued to follow her at a fast pace. He did not run, but his steps were long. Each footprint in the sand seemed to leave a trace of death, which was already rushing towards the inhabitants of Heartstone. Alexa felt the full weight of these steps. Her chest was squeezing and her heart was pounding against her ribs. She continued to run in hysterics until she ran into the fence that separated the boat station area from the public beach. The steel mesh was attached to iron pipes of small diameter. Alexa jumped onto the mesh, hooked her fingers on it and began to desperately crawl up it.

She screamed something incoherent and called for help. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and the trembling in her voice made the scream not as loud as she would have liked. Before her eyes there was still Jerry, flying over the fence, as if he had jumped from a trampoline.

Three meters of the fence separated Alexa from entering the territory of the boat station. She caught on to the very edge of the fence mesh and had already begun to drag her body over the pipe to which the mesh was attached. Suddenly she felt something grab her left leg, like a ring that was squeezing like a vice. Feeling this touch, the girl experienced a coldness that sent a shiver through her entire skin from her heels to her head. The Racer’s hand held Alexa’s leg in an iron grip. The girl’s screams became stronger, but immediately stopped as soon as the Racer sharply pulled her leg down, causing the pipe’s end to pierce her lower jaw, pass through her mouth, and puncture her palate, reaching her skull through her brain. Alexa’s pupils rolled back, leaving only the whites of her eyes.

16. When God and death come together

John Minton was carving up freshly killed nutria carcasses while Deborah washed the dishes after putting the chicken in the oven. After dinner, she planned to start working on the cake so she could let it soak overnight. But Ursula was still not there.

– That little rascal is stuck in the supermarket again – said Deborah. Then she looked at the digital clock on the kitchen set and added: – She’s been gone going on two hours.

– Come on – John answered, cutting the nutria’s ribs with pruning shears. – As if you don’t know how much she loves to talk. Store across the road. She didn’t go to the other end of the town. I’ll finish now and go get her.

Deborah finished drying the dishes and looked at the watch once again. Then she turned to husband:

– John, go get her. I’ll cut up the nutria.

John handed the pruning shears to his wife and went into the hallway. He looked at the stains from the meat on his T-shirt and decided to wear a shirt instead.

He went outside and thought about how suspiciously cool the nights were this summer. Having lived in Heartstone all his life, he had never seen anything like it. It seemed to him that if he had known in advance what the temperature was outside, he would have wanted to throw on something warmer. But it was not far to go. John crossed the road and entered the supermarket, which was soon to close. Entering the store, he saw one working cash register, on which Cassandra Bello was dozing. He walked up to her and gently placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder. But she still got scared and jumped up with a slight exclamation:

– No, no, I don’t… I don’t, it’s…

– Quiet, quiet.

Only then, having looked a little closer, she said in a calmer tone:

– Oh, Mr. Minton.

– Don’t sleep, Sandra. Yann could show up at any second.

She looked at her wristwatch, counting down the minutes until the end of the work day.

– Yes. It’s good that it turned out to be you – Cassandra answered, struggling to keep her eyes open.

– I’m picking up Ursula.

– Yes, okay – Cassandra said, not quite recovering from sleep. But suddenly she said: – Wait, Mr. Minton. Hasn’t she come home?

– No.

Cassandra began to strain her memory.

– She went through the cash register. Well, yes. I remember exactly. Yes, she also took yeast.

– Are you sure? – the girl’s father asked, narrowing his eyes.

– Quite. But I couldn’t have dreamed it. Just a second – Cassandra added at the end and went deeper into the trading floor.

She approached her partner.

– Raymond.

Having finished arranging the bottles of mineral water, he responded:

– Hm-yes.

– Is the boss nearby? – Cassandra asked in a whisper.

Raymond looked back and said:

– Relax, friend. What’s happened?

Raymond began unpacking the lemonade box while listening to Cassandra.

– Was Ursula in the store?

He looked at his partner and said:

– Well, yes. I chatted with her for another ten minutes. As usual, we shot the breeze for a bit, then she took something from the shelf near the powdered sugar and walked towards the cash register. Did you fall asleep and now you can’t tell if it was a dream or not? – Raymond said the last words with a slight smile.

– Mr. Minton has arrived. He says she didn’t return home.

Raymond thought about it. After a short pause, he broke the silence:

– That’s odd. It’s right across the road. What could have happened?

– That’s what I think.

Soon Cassandra returned to the checkout, where Ursula’s father was still waiting.

– Sorry, Mr. Minton. – Then Cassandra spoke, staring off as if piecing it together: – Ursula was definitely here. She definitely took the yeast and paid at the checkout. We exchanged words before saying goodbye, and after that she left.

John touched his closed eyelids with his fingers, then lowered his palm, closed his lips and opened his eyes. His face showed complete confusion.

Noticing this grimace, Cassandra asked:

– Are there any friends nearby that she could meet and hang out with?

John silently shook his head and then asked for a phone to call the sheriff’s office.

Leonardo Benetti watched through tears as Ursula Minton’s body in a body bag was loaded into a van that would take the body to the morgue. Her identity was identified after Harry reported on the radio that he had received a call from a man who reported his lost daughter. The description – height, age, hairstyle, hair color and clothing – everything matched.

Lowering his head and burying his face in the ground illuminated by spotlights, Sheriff Desmond Poe said in a faded voice:

– We need to tell the parents.

After these words, Father Benetti braced himself. He said:

– Sheriff, trust me with this. I know the Mintons. Especially John. I will try to soften this blow for the parents’ hearts, if this is at all possible.

The sheriff did not object. He doubted that he could find the words to convey such terrible news to the girl’s parents.

Father Benetti hurried back to his blue ’77 Chevrolet Nova, which he had left on the side of the road, started the engine and hurried to the Minton family home. Along the way, the Father ran a handkerchief over his face twenty times, wiping away tears. Having driven halfway, he noticed that the eyes already looked normal. All that was left was redness around his eyes.

Soon the priest’s Chevrolet was parked in front of the Minton family’s home. He looked in the rearview mirror again, took a deep breath, exhaled sharply and glanced at the windshield. He wanted to wait another minute to let his heart calm down a little. But John Minton appeared ahead, leaving the supermarket building and shuffling across the road in the dim light of the street lamps. Father Benetti hurried out of the car and headed towards John.

Every time he saw Father Benetti, his head was overcome by the thought that in front of him was a man who would give him support, peace of mind, and consolation. This man could give practical and very wise advice. Meeting with the Father always filled John with warm feelings. This time the meeting was so unexpected; he first met Father Benetti under circumstances in which he was not seeking this meeting.

– Mr. Minton.

– Did something happen, Father? – John asked in a timid voice, frozen in place.

Father Benetti continued to walk at a calm pace. In the twilight of the night, only his palms, face and white clergy collar around his neck were visible. His suit and shoes blended completely into the darkness. He walked up, carefully took Ursula’s father’s hand, pressed it to him, and he leaned forward and hugged him, clasping his shoulders with his other hand, and then, resting his chin on John’s shoulder, Father Benetti said, unable to hold back another tear:

– Be strong, Mr. Minton. Be strong.

John’s body went completely limp, and his voice trembled, like that of a frightened child waiting for horror:

– W… what… what’s wrong with my girl? Fath…

17. Corpse puzzle

Before seven in the morning, the school principal called the sheriff’s office and reported a body discovered on the porch of the building, identifying her as a recent graduate, and one of the teachers confirmed the identity of Alexa Monroe.

As Larry worked on the body, examining the hole in the lower jaw, Jenna called the sheriff. Desmond walked up to the official car, took the radio, pulled it out and said:

– This is Desmond. Go ahead, Jenna.

– Chief, Ruben found another corpse at his station. A young guy, about eighteen years old.

The sheriff threw the radio into the car with all his might. There was a crash from the impact on the dashboard. Desmond said, turning to Harry:

– These corpses are piling up so fast we’ll need a waiting list for the morgue. – After half a minute, Desmond pulled himself together and said: – So, Harry. We’re done here and head to Ruben’s. Contact the morgue. Have them send a second van to the boat station.

After waiting for Larry to finish examining the corpse, Desmond asked him to go with them to the boat station.

Already looking around the beach by the lake, Desmond asked as the medical examiner descended the stairs that led to Ruben’s office:

– Well, Larry, what are your thoughts?

Larry took off his second latex glove and said, putting his glasses in the side pocket of his jacket:

– I know one thing. If it turns out that all these victims are the work of one person, then it is difficult for me to imagine his height and dimensions. This guy – pointing to the broken window with a hanging corpse – is no lightweight. How much power do you need to throw this mass to such a height? There will be a couple of meters from the window to the ground, no less. And it flew in from outside, because most of the glass fragments lie inside the room. That is, this is not an attempt to confuse the investigation. This actually happened. I had a decent practice in the Bronx at one time; I’ve seen a lot, but I couldn’t dream this up.

At this moment, the voice of Ruben was heard, who in a hurry approached the sheriff, Larry and Harry:

– Guys, that’s not all. Let’s go. I found something else there.

Ruben grabbed a stepladder, which he placed close to the fence and invited Larry to climb up to examine the bloody mark on the pipe to which the steel mesh was attached.

Larry examined the trail and immediately said:

– And this matches the diameter of the girl’s wound. And the length of the mark is the same as the depth of the wound.

– Yes, great. Harry, find the girl’s parents and find out through them who this guy is. We need to inform his family.

– Got it, chief.

After packing up his tools, Larry and the sheriff went to the car. Leaving the case in the car, they returned to the pier, awaiting the arrival of the car from the morgue. Sitting down on the bench, Larry said, lighting a cigarette:

– Listen, Desmond. We’re getting nowhere.

– In what sense? What are you talking about?

Larry’s face was very puzzled, as if he was solving a puzzle.

– There is nothing similar between the deaths, and their number is already extraordinary. Norman, the transport company employee, the girl, the dancer from Gomorrah, the girl at the school and this guy. Six victims who don’t just have different injuries. No sign of sadism. All different ages. I’ll say even more: I’m more than sure that the girl who was found near the school hit this pole with her jaw – pointing to the pipe with the bloodstain – by accident, when she ran away and tried to climb over the fence. I’d rather believe that this psycho just wanted to kill her, but how – it doesn’t matter. This is a dead end.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «Литрес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на Литрес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

Примечания

1

The ninth novel in the Fantomas series by French authors Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain.