Time Clock Hero by Spikes Donovan Read Free Book Online Page B

you, Phoenix?” Chief Cobb asked.
    Phoenix called for the elevator.  “You know where I am.”
    “We’ve got our hands full over in Tusculum – riots at an apartment complex is what they’re telling me.  We need you on the scene.  Homicide.”
    “Let me guess – like Dr. Demachi, right?”
    “How did you know---?”
    “I just shot Tracy, DeAnte’.  She did just like Dr. Demachi – she got up and attacked people.  We’ve at least one dead here and another hurt.”
    Chief Cobb went silent for a second, and then he said, “Can you cover it?  I might be able to get a squad car over there in an hour.  How do you feel?”
    “I just killed my wife, DeAnte’, that’s how I feel,” Phoenix said.  “And thanks for playing like you didn’t know about me and June.  You know, I blew it – but I still loved Tracy, if that helps you understand how I feel.”
    “I know you did, Phoenix – but all of this?  It’ll work out in the end.  Trust me.”
    Like hell it will.
    “So Tracy went Dr. Albin on you?  I mean, like she did a June Buckner thing – with all the---?”
    “She – I mean, Tracy’s body – killed people over here at Centennial, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    Phoenix walked back towards the elevator, listening as he went.  He stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the first floor and watched the doors close.
    “Over in Tusculum,” Chief Cobb said, “we got a report stating that the guy June Buckner attacked at the theater just up and went – went June Buckner on everyone he saw on the street.  He just started attacking people – you know, biting and stuff.  But here’s something else – something new.  The people he attacked got treated and went home and, the next day, they started attacking people.”
    “What’s the situation now?”
    “We’ve got it under control, but we need you and Alaia out there together on this one.”
    “That’s not where the story is right now, DeAnte’,” Phoenix said, as the elevator opened onto the first floor.  “I have a lead – and it’s at St. David’s University.  Get one of the Berry Hill guys to cover for me.  And have Jenkins meet me at St. David’s in the Granny White parking lot near the steam plant.  We need answers.  You’ll only find bodies at Tusculum.  Trust me on this.”
    A pause, a couple of seconds, seemed to never end.  Then Chief Cobb said, “What’s at St. David’s?”
    “I stole the syringe and the lab reports from Dr. Demachi’s desk.  I’m taking them to Dr. Marcus Cain.  Seems like he’s the guy who knows Psyke, or maybe I’m wrong.”
    “That’s a felony, Phoenix,” Chief Cobb said.  “And now that I know that, I have to arrest---”
    “But it’s not a felony, DeAnte’,” Phoenix cut in.  “Not when I have a tip – besides, I’m being set up.  Tracy is proof of that.”
    “Just keep me in the loop,” Chief Cobb said.  “And we didn’t discuss any of this.  Nobody knows we talked.”

Chapter 6
     
    Walking with his hand in his pocket, his fingers wrapped lightly around the evidence bag containing the syringe, Phoenix, with his eyes staring straight ahead, walked back up West End towards the parking lot.
    He arrived at the corner of West End and 25 th Ave South a few minutes later.  He checked his watch, pulled out an extra three dollars, and dropped them into the pay slot matching the number of his parking space.  He hurried off across the lot, careful to avoid an entering vehicle, and got into his vapor silver Ford Focus.
    He started his car, fastened his seatbelt, and pulled out his phone.  He called Alaia, though it took him nothing less than a shear act of iron will to even hit her number.
    “Now what?” Alaia asked.
    “Everything you’ve been hoping for and more, dear,” Phoenix said.  “You want my job?  You can have it – I’m quitting.  But not just yet.”
    “Glad to see you’ve come to your senses.”
    “No time for small talk from