Evil in Hockley by William Buckel Read Free Book Online Page B

from the floor as the dust cloud
hung and slowly settled to where he had been sitting.
    His Beretta was out in a
heartbeat.
    There was no one else in the
room.
    Seconds had passed and all three had
disappeared.
    It had indeed been a trap but not like
any he would have expected. He searched the house yet found
nothing.
    When he left the house the first thing
he noticed was the absence of the black sedan. He climbed in his
car and drove to Sandy. Thank God she was all right.
    “Why didn’t you follow the black sedan.
I would have been out in seconds.”
    “What sedan?”
    “Shit. What the hell is going
on?”
    “What Harry? You were only there for a
minute then came back out.”
    “They were in there: John Dean,
Shelley, and Tony. Then they were gone.”
    “What are you talking about
Harry?”
    Harry could see it was a waste of time.
He had no answers for what he saw or didn’t see. How could he know
what went on outside?
    “Let’s go home, there’s nothing more
for us here.”
    He almost got to his car when she
yelled,
    “Harry.”
    He turned then she added,
    “I’m scared.”
    “Yah, it’s all okay.”
    But it wasn’t. Harry had never been so
dumbfounded in all his life.

Chapter 13
     
    There was a lot of nothing passing
between Harry and Sandy that evening. They both had thoughts of the
day’s activity that led absolutely nowhere so talking about it was
an ambivalent undertaking.
    Harry realized John Dean was way out of
his league. How could he fight an entity he didn’t understand. He
had to stop thinking about it or he’d go around in circles all
night long like a dog chasing its own tail. His plan was… He didn’t
have a plan. He’d have to wait for John Dean’s next move then try
to find a weakness he could exploit.
    If he lived through the next
assault.
    Darkness set in when Harry heard light
footsteps on the front porch. There was a weak knock as though
someone didn’t want to disturb the occupants. He answered and stood
facing Karma. She gave him a slight smile then nodded and said
hello. Harry eyed the laneway and her car searching for her backup.
She worked for Joe Sharky which justified his mistrust.
    “I’m alone. May I come in for a
moment.”
    Harry stood thinking when Sandy
approached and stood behind him. It was as though Karma could read
their thoughts.
    “I left Joe Sharky. I came to drop off
these papers.”
    Harry hadn’t noticed but she carried a
satchel. She eyed the Beretta in his hand.
    Harry said,
    “I listened to one of Joe’s people
today and my head’s still spinning.”
    Karma nodded.
    “That was John Dean and his sister
Lenea.”
    “No just John Dean.”
    She shook her head.
    “When you deal with one you deal with
both.”
    Harry didn’t know what she meant but
realized she might have some critical information to
share.
    “Come in please.”
    Sandy protested.
    “Harry?”
    “I’m going to hang onto my
gun.”
    It seemed to calm her but she threw her
hands in the air and walked back to the dining room. He invited
Karma in then pulled back a chair. She smiled then said,
    “You were always a gentleman
Harry.”
    Harry set the Beretta on the table then
sat. He stared at Karma: she was as usual dressed in black wearing
the same blue emerald necklace he’d seen countless times before.
She had long dark hair and on the right side hung a feather
spanning almost to shoulder length. She looked as though she had a
perpetual tan, her skin smooth, the years kind to her.
    “You said you left Sharky?”
    “Long story.”
    She shoved the satchel across the
table. Harry opened it slowly as though expecting a rat to escape.
She laughed then said,
    “Just some papers I grabbed off Joe’s
desk before I left. Maybe of value, maybe not.”
    “I had some powder thrown at me today
that I don’t think was merely just a prank.”
    She shook her head.
    “You must have avoided it because had
you not you would certainly be dead.”
    “I dove to the floor. What