CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
October 13 a€￠ 5:35 A.M.
Chaz:
Shadows melted; clouds shattered; stars fell from the sky. The world became a barren landscape, painted in muted shades of gray and brown, a scorched horizon of broken glass and barbed wire. An invisible minefield surrounded by a poisonous moat. My throat felt like Ia€?d been drinking fire, while my left hand melted and evaporated in the lava-bright heat.
Gone. Everything recognizable was gone.
I was empty. Tired. My blood had been drained out by some vampire and now there were ten more lining up, waiting for a drink. I couldna€?t remember the last time Ia€?d been able to sleep longer than five hours. I wanted to close my eyes and lose my identity. Plunge headfirst into a Rip Van Winkle coma.
More than anything, I wanted to sleep without that nightmare.
a€?What nightmare?a€?
I lifted my head, stared unblinking into Skellara€?s Mongoloid face. I grinned. He was so ugly he was an insult to Mongoloids worldwide.
a€?You think Ia€?m a Mongoloid, do ya? You want to spend the rest of the week inside? I got a sweet little cell with your name written all over the urine-stained walls.a€?
I glanced over my shoulder. Sensed a shadow there. Angelique. She nodded.
I rubbed my face. They must have given me something to make me talk. I was probably babbling like a teenage girl with her first smartphone implant.
Skellar chuckled. a€?What do ya know about teenage girls?a€?
a€?Thata€?s enough, hea€?s clean and you know it,a€? Angelique said. a€?The Fresh Start lawyers already gave you the surveillance tapes from the Domingue security team. Chaz was outside when some nutcase climbed up the side of the house and doused Isabellea€?s bedroom with liquid lighta€”a€?
a€?And you both know that all his fancy lawyers got no jurisdiction here, not when it comes to a capital involving a minor.a€? Skellar leaned against the wall, slid a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. A cloud of sulfur and smoke circled his face, made him look even more demonic than before. He picked a sliver of jive-sweet off his lip before he spoke again. a€?So, what about you, sweetcakes? Why did you take those kids in the bathroom right before the blast? You were in on it, werena€?t ya?a€?
a€?Look,a€? she snapped. a€?If I had known that somebody was going to blow up that room, I would have gotten all those kids out. I wouldna€?t have grabbed just two. How heartless do you think I am?a€?
He shrugged. a€?You tell me.a€?
a€?Sugar, Ia€?ve got whatever it takes to play this game with you.a€? She braced her handsa€”now neatly bandaged with synthetic flesha€”on a long, low table and leaned toward him. a€?We can go on like this all day and all night long. We can do it in here,a€? she waved at the interrogation room, a€?or in the courtroom. Your choice. Just remember. The meter is running and your dollar pays for it all.a€?
He shook his head. a€?Not if you lose.a€?
a€?Ia€?ve never lost a case.a€?
I rubbed my temples. I felt like I had just swallowed a rat and it was trying to claw its way back up my throat. I could feel it, one paw at a time. I closed my eyes. I was going to lose it, at any momenta€”
a€?Here, use this.a€? Angelique shoved a wastebasket in front of me.
Therea€?s no pretty way to say it. I puked. Rat and all. I knew it was there, somewhere. An invisible ball of fur and claws and teeth.
a€?Would you shut up already? Therea€?s no stinkina€? rat.a€? Skellar crushed his cigarette out with his heel. a€?Youa€?re going down, Domingue. You and your whole family. And you better believe your brother, Russell, is spilling his guts in the next room.a€? He laughed at his unintentional joke. a€?Well, probably not like you just did. But we got some inside info that claims he might be behind this.a€?
Angelique avoided his gaze as her lips curved in a slow, dangerous smile. She nodded.
a€?What do you know about all this?a€? Skellar asked, his eyes hooded in shadow.
She ignored him. Stared across the room as if she could see things we couldna€?t.
He came closer, predatory head lowering, voice soft as a silken noose. a€?Why did he do it? Was he testing resurrection on those kids?a€?
She ran her fingers through her hair. A deafening silence followed.
a€?She just downloaded two days ago,a€? I said. a€?Her memories havena€?t stabilized yet.a€?
a€?Leave her alone, Domingue. And dona€?t pull any of your Babysitter mumbo jumbo,a€? Skellar said. a€?If she has information about this investigationa€”a€?
a€?All I know is, ita€?s not right to kill someone,a€? she said then, as if she needed to justify something, a€?even if they resurrect, ita€?s still murdera€”a€?
a€?Is your Newbie nuts, or did your brother kill somebody?a€? Skellar was in my face now.
I paused. Russell could never kill anybody, he didna€?t have what it tooka€”something Ia€?d had to do more often than I wanted to admit. Anytime there was a really dirty job, I got stuck with it. That was why I was the Babysitter and he was the one sitting pretty in the CEO chair all day longa€”
a€?Look, I dona€?t need to hear your friggina€? family history, Domingue. Ia€?m tryina€? to figure out if we got another homicide here. You two know something about this and youa€?re gonna tell me, if I have to keep ya here fora€”a€?
Angelique turned toward him, all the curves in her face melting into sharp angles, her spine turned to steel and her eyes diamond bright. a€?This interrogation is over, Skellar,a€? she said. a€?End of your miserable mug story. Go ahead and investigate Russell until the hybrid cows come home, for all I care. Maybe hea€?s guilty and maybe hea€?s not. But youa€?ve got nothing to implicate either one of us in the murder of those kids. So, hey, yeah, youa€?re going to let us out. Now. Or I promise you, you wona€?t be able to buy your jive-sweet next month because my expenses will be coming out of your paycheck.a€?
Skellar stopped.
Apparently Angelique had finally found his hot button.
He made a weak effort at maintaining control, pulled another cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, watched us through billowing smoke. Then he made a slight, almost insignificant gesture with his left hand. A second later the door to the interrogation room breezed open.
We were free to go.