The Portal ~ Large Print by Christopher Allan Poe Read Free Book Online Page A

waiting patiently for his next gig in hell.
    “No matter how much money you get from my people, it won’t save you. Your children won’t recognize you when I’m finished.”
    “I hope you’re not blaming me for last night.” The man pointed a knobby finger at him. His varicose hands looked ancient. Jarod didn’t see any weapons.
    “If you didn’t do it, who did?”
    “That’s not important right now—”
    “Answer me,” he said loudly. “Who took my arm?”
    The man stopped rocking. The room grew cold.
    “I’ve watched out for your family for a long time now,” he said. “But I can leave.”
    “Conrad,” a woman’s muffled voice called out. “What’s going on down there?”
    Jarod spun to find a wooden staircase leading up. Across the room, the only window had no bars. This was no cell. It looked like a basement that had been converted to a bedroom. That didn’t make sense. If he wasn’t being held hostage, what was happening? The blood. His arm.
    “Talk quiet,” the old man whispered. “This is Janet Winston’s house. You broke in here last night when you ran out of the juice. Trust me, you don’t want that woman coming down and finding out what you did to her son in the bathroom over there.”
    Just then, Jarod noticed the blood trail that led into the darkness beside the old man.
    “Conrad,” she repeated. Above, a door opened. Jarod stepped back from the light that spilled down the staircase. “We didn’t let you move back in so that you could sleep all day.” She paused. “I swear.”
    The door slammed. Footsteps thumped away.
    “Who the hell are you?” Jarod turned back.
    “Just an old friend. Here to help you through a difficult situation.”
    “Your name now or I promise—”
    “I am Mister Vincent.”
    Jarod felt dizzy. That name. Where had he heard it before?
    “What happened to me?” he asked. “My arm?”
    “You tangled with the wrong alley cat last night.” Mister Vincent chuckled. “That Vivian is quite a lady.”
    Vivian. His stomach burned with anger. That’s right. He’d found her hiding in Mercer. But then what? His memory blurred. It didn’t matter. He should’ve known that bitch was somehow responsible for this. If she was on the move again, there’d be a trail for Rankin to follow. A cell phone sat on the end table. He walked over and picked it up. Before this day ended, he’d personally beat the life from her.
    “Put it down,” Mister Vincent said. “You’re not going to touch her. Besides, the police aren’t going to think too highly of this situation when they show up.”
    “They’ll do what they’re told, or they’ll end up with her.”
    “Use your head. Cody’s not going to react well if you kill his mother. Your boy already sees too much. It’s dangerous. And foolish.”
    He started to dial Rankin’s number with his left hand, and was reminded of his arm again. She’d turned him into some kind of freak. For that, he’d make her beg for death.
    “You’re insane if you think she’s going to get away with this,” Jarod said.
    “You’re calling me crazy?”
    “Nuts.”
    “If I’m so crazy, then why are you the one who’s chatting with himself?”
    Jarod looked up to find the basement empty. He spun around, but he was alone with his thundering heart.
    Above, the door opened again.
    “Conrad.” A heavy-set woman clomped down the stairs, fiddling with a set of keys. “I told you the dishes in the washer were clean.”
    She reached the bottom, glanced up, and froze.
    “Take anything you want.” She stepped back, and then looked at the bed’s bloody sheets. “Oh God.”
    She darted upstairs. He leapt forward and grabbed her ankle. She slammed into the staircase, and her body fell to the floor below.
    “Please,” she said as he spun her over. “Don’t.”
    What could he do? His fingerprints would be everywhere. And she could ID him. A thought crept into his head. She could’ve slipped while trying to escape a house