Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis Read Free Book Online Page B

of people. Until somebody sent you after him."
    "I wouldn't have thought the word 'wizard' gets used a lot, down there in Quantico," Morris said slowly. "Not a real scientific term, like psychopath, or paranoid schizophrenic."
    Fenton sat there looking at him for a bit, before finally saying, "How's that friend of yours, Libby Chastain?"
    It was Morris's turn to sit and stare. Then he said, "Libby's fine — or she was last week, when we spoke on the phone. Do you two know each other?"
    "No, not personally. But we have a mutual friend: Garth Van Dreenan."
    "The South African cop."
    "That's the guy."
    "Works for the Occult Crimes Unit over there."
    "Yep. You know him?"
    "We met once, a while back. Seemed like a nice enough fella." Morris snapped his fingers. "Fenton. I thought that name rang a bell. You and Garth were working those child murders, the ones where the poor kids' organs were removed while they were still alive."
    "Yeah, that was our case."
    "I was kind of busy at the time, but I heard later that you solved it, the two of you."
    "Solved?" Fenton suddenly looked tired. "Well, there was a resolution, anyway. Maybe even some justice, I don't know."
    "What the hell are you, Fenton? And don't keep saying 'Behavioral Science.' Guys from Quantico don't use words like 'wizard' and 'black magic' Not with a straight face, they don't." Morris shook his head impatiently. "Who are you really with? The damn X-Files?"
    "The X-Files Unit does not exist, and has never existed," Fenton said, as if quoting somebody. "It is a myth, perpetrated by rumor and popular culture. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates crimes against the United States committed by living, breathing people, and does not acknowledge the existence of the so-called paranormal. "
    "Okay, I gotcha," Morris told him. "Now, what's the real story?"
    Fenton ran a hand over his face. "Look, Morris, until fairly recently, I was a normal FBI agent —well, as normal as Behavioral Science gets. There are people in the Bureau, you know, who figure that, to investigate and apprehend psychopaths, you've got to be a little nutty yourself."
    "Yeah, I've heard that one," Morris said. "All that 'gaze into the abyss' stuff, right?"
    "'He who fights monsters must take care that he does not himself become a monster. For when you look deeply into the abyss, the abyss is also looking into you.' Old Fred Nietzsche, damn his soul."
    "I can see you've given this some thought."
    "Hell, yeah. Therapy and everything. And, you know, I never thought I'd find myself quoting that racist bastard George Wallace, but he did say one thing once that I kinda like: 'I got me a piece of paper says I'm not crazy —what've you got?'"
    "Okay, you're not crazy," Morris said. "Duly stipulated."
    "Well, last year they assigned me to work this series of child murders. The signature was pretty distinct, and as soon as the perp appeared to have crossed state lines, the Bureau was sent in. Or, more precisely, I was, since my partner had retired and I was working solo for a while."
    Morris nodded. "Prepubescent kids, abducted, murdered outdoors near water, organs removed before death. Garth told me about it, that time I met him."
    "Okay, so you know there were definitely ritualistic elements to the crimes. I was doing my job as best I could, liaising with local law, working up a profile, all that. But then the newspapers got hold of it. You can imagine the stories."
    "Hell, I even remember one of them: 'Cannibal Killer Strikes Again.'"
    "Fuck, yeah. Even though there was no evidence that any of the organs were consumed by the perp. But that kind of crap got people excited, especially in the states were the kids had been killed. So they started bugging their reps in Congress, which means pressure on the Bureau."
    "Pressure on Behavioral Science, you mean."
    "You got it. So my boss had this bright idea of calling in a 'consultant' from overseas."
    "And that was Garth. All the way from South Africa."
    "And