The Darkness Inside: Writer's Cut by John Rickards Read Free Book Online Page A

strand of spit in the corner of his mouth stretching white with every word, somehow always holding itself together. “Don’t you want to hear how I fucked her? How I made that little bitch scream for me?”
    “No, I don’t.” I stood and walked toward the exit, not even giving him the satisfaction of a black look. My hand was touching the door when Williams started laughing again behind me.
    “I’m sorry, Agent Rourke. I’m just messing with you. Couldn’t help it. Come back and we can talk properly.”
    I glanced round to see him smiling at me. “Properly?”
    “Sure. Come on. Don’t you feel you owe it to me?”
    “Okay, talk. But any more screwing around and I’m gone for good.”  
    “Whatever you say.”
    I returned to the table and sat warily in the chair. “Why are you doing this, Cody? What are you getting out of it?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Is it so you can get one last thrill, going over your old crimes, knowing you won’t be touched for admitting them? Explain it to me. I can’t figure out if this is just a personal power trip, or you’re hoping for a release before you die, or what.”
    Williams leaned back in his seat. “Why ain’t important, Agent Rourke. Don’t worry about it. Important thing is that I can tell you what you need to know. You and those whining fucks who wrote the letter. And I’m going to start with the Abblit girl.”
    “If that’s what you want,” I said, folding my arms. “Shoot.”
    “I remember that day real clear.” Williams dropped his eyes, withdrew into an inner world. From the ease with which he made the transition, and the way he licked his lips at the images in his head, I guessed he’d done this a lot over the past few years. And enjoyed it every time. “It was hot, sun shone all day. Hardly a cloud. I had to take a delivery to some guy out past Pittsfield in the morning. I was already thinking about it, even then. You know how you wake up some mornings and you’d just love to get laid?”
    I kept silent, so he continued. “So I’m checking out the chicks on the way to this guy’s house, and it’s summer so they’re letting it all show, and while I’m there we talk about girls and stuff. What we like, what we don’t like. I head for home and I figure, yeah, today’s the day I get a girl.”
    Williams looked back up, smiling faintly, old hunger burning in his eyes. I tried not to listen too hard to what I knew was coming next.
    “I was almost home when I saw her,” he said. “The loveliest thing you ever set eyes on. Her hair was so dark, looked black in the evening. I just fell in love with her face, though. So pretty.” The smile broadened and his fingers flexed involuntarily, perhaps reliving the feel of Kerry Abblit’s face held in his hands. “I had to have her, y'know? I pulled up the van a little way ahead, next to this factory building they’d converted into offices. No one had bought them yet, though, so I knew there wouldn’t be anyone inside to see. I just stood on the sidewalk with a piece of paper in my hands, looking like every other delivery guy checking addresses, until she walked past. Got my hand over her mouth and hauled her back through the van’s side door. I had to knock her on the side of the head a couple of times to show her I wasn't going to fuck around. That didn’t spoil things too much. Got her tied up tight, then hit the road again.”
    His eyes refocused on me for a moment before drifting back into the past. “I couldn’t take her home, I knew that, see. Too risky. So I drove out of town, looking for someplace quiet, all the while with her waiting in the back, like she was calling to me.” He laughed damply, just once, and shook his head. “Fuck, man. You know what it’s like when you just want some privacy — seems like everyone follows you around and you can’t get away. Must’ve taken me an hour to find some place to park the van, away from people who might’ve seen or heard. Man, I