The Revelation by Bentley Little Read Free Book Online Page A

that Justin andSuzonne were at the movies with Ralph Pittman and his mother. A second note, held up by a TweetyBird magnet, told him that Annette was at the grocery store. Jim left his own note in reply and grabbed a donut before taking off. He said in the note that he'd be back for dinner, but he knew that was probably just wishful thinking. In all likelihood he'd be coming home late. He had a feeling there were going to be a lot of missed meals over the next couple of weeks.

    The child was waiting in his office when he arrived.

    The sight threw him for a second, but he did not let the surprise register on his face. He threw his hat on the rack next to his desk, as always, and sat down. CarlChmura was sitting next to the boy on the low vinyl couch against the far wall, and he stood up when Jim entered the room. "Howdy, Sheriff."

    "What's up, Carl?"

    The deputy walked across the carpeted floor toward the sheriff and nodded his head toward the boy. "This kid here came in around noon today, maybe a little earlier. Said he had something important to tell you. He wouldn't talk to anyone else. I told him you probably wouldn't be coming in for a while, but he wanted to wait. Said it was real important."

    Jim looked at the boy. He was small and pale and couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve. He looked as though he had not been out of the house all summer. He was wearing an ill-fitting shirt that looked like it had probably been his father's or grandfather's and a pair of ripped Levi's faded almost white. His hair was thin and greasy and too long, and it curled around his shoulders in matted tangles. He was clenching and unclenching his hands nervously.

    But it was the boy's face that captured his attention.

    His face was filled with fear.

    Jim stood up and smiled kindly at the boy, not wishing to frighten or intimidate him. "What's your name, son?"

    "Don Wilson." The boy's voice was timid and uncertain.

    Jim motioned Carl to the door with his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Carl.

    I'll call you if I need you." The deputy nodded, understanding, and closed the door behind him as he left.

    Jim sat on the corner edge of the desk facing the boy. He put on his allpurpose concerned-father expression and bent forward, placing his hands on his knees. "So, Don," he said. "What did you want to talk to me about?" The boy's frightened face looked first toward the door then toward the window--in human approximation of a cornered rabbit checking out its options for escape. He looked immediately sorry that he'd come, and Jim thought for a second he was going to bolt. The sheriff smiled understandingly. "It's okay, Don," he said. "You can talk to me."

    "I know where the Selways are!" the boy blurted out. "I know how to find their bodies!"

    Jim's smile of patient understanding froze on his face. He stared at the pale scared youth before him, his mouth suddenly dry, his hands holding on to his knees with a vice like grip. Adrenaline flushed into his system.

    Their bodies.

    Jim snapped his head toward the door, his sheriff's instinct taking over.
    "Carl!" he called. "Carl!"

    The deputy rushed in instantly. His head did a one-eighty as he quickly scanned the room. His eyes stopped on Jim, baffled, but Jim had already turned back toward the boy. "Why the hell didn't you say something about this earlier? Why didn't you tell DeputyChmura ?"

    The boy was still cowering, and under the sheriff's verbal onslaught he appeared to almost visibly shrink, but he held his ground. "I can only tell you," he said. His voice was scared, shaky.

    "Where are they?" Jim demanded.

    The boy looked from the sheriff to the deputy and shook his head.

    "All right!" Jim yelled. "Carl, get out of here for a minute!" The deputy retreated, confused, and closed the door behind him. Jim swiveled his gaze back to the boy. "Okay. Where the hell are they?"

    The boy licked his lips. "I had this dream a few nights ago--"

    "Where the hell are they?"

    "Let me finish my