Darkfall

VI

The gas flames licked the ceramic logs.

The blown-glass lamps glowed softly, and the candles flickered, and the special darkness of the night pressed against the windows.

“Why wouldn't those creatures bite me? Why can't Lavelle's sorcery harm me?”

“There can be only one answer,” Hampton said. “A Bocor has no power whatsoever to harm a righteous man. The righteous are well-armored.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. You're righteous, virtuous. You're a man whose soul bears the stains of only the most minor sins.”

“You've got to be kidding.”

“No. By the manner in which you've led your life, you've earned immunity to the dark powers, immunity to the curses and charms and spells of sorcerers like Lavelle. You cannot be touched.”

“That's just plain ridiculous,” Jack said, feeling uncomfortable in the role of a righteous man.

“Otherwise, Lavelle would have had you murdered by now.”

“I'm no angel.

“I didn't say you were. Not a saint, either. Just a righteous man. That's good enough.”

“Nonsense. I'm not righteous or—”

“If you thought of yourself as righteous, that would be a sin — a sin of self-righteousness. Smugness, an unshakable conviction of your own moral superiority, a self-satisfied blindness to your own faults — none of those qualities is descriptive of you.”

“You're beginning to embarrass me,” Jack said.

“You see? You aren't even guilty of the sin of excessive pride.”

Jack held up his brandy. “What about this? I drink.”

“To excess?”

“No. But I swear and curse. I sure do my own share of that. I take the Lord's name in vain.”

“A very minor sin.”

“I don't attend church.”

“Church-going has nothing to do with righteousness. The only thing that really counts is how you treat your fellow human beings. Listen, let's pin this down; let's be absolutely sure this is why Lavelle can't touch you. Have you ever stolen from anyone?”

“No.”

“Have you ever cheated someone in a financial transaction?”

“I've always looked out for my own interests, been aggressive in that regard, but I don't believe I've ever cheated anyone.”

“In your official capacity, have you ever accepted a bribe?”

“No. You can't be a good cop if you've got your hand out.”

“Are you a gossiper, a slanderer?”

“No. But forget about that small stuff.” He leaned forward in his armchair and locked eyes with Hampton and said, “What about murder? I've killed two men. Can I kill two men and still be righteous? I don't think so. That strains your thesis more than a little bit.”

Hampton looked stunned but only for a moment. He blinked and said, “Oh. I see. You mean that you killed them in the line of duty.”

“Duty is a cheap excuse, isn't it? Murder is murder. Right? ”

“What crimes were these men guilty of?”

“The first was a murderer himself. He robbed a series of liquor stores and always shot the clerks. The second was a rapist. Twenty-two rapes in six months.”

“When you killed these men, was it necessary? Could you have apprehended them without resorting to a gun? ”

“In both cases they started shooting first.”

Hampton smiled, and the hard lines of his battered face softened. “Self-defense isn't a sin, Lieutenant.”

“Yeah? Then why'd I feel so dirty after I pulled the trigger? Both times. I felt soiled. Sick. Once in a while, I still have a nightmare about those men, bodies torn apart by bullets from my own revolver…”

“Only a righteous man, a very virtuous man, would feel remorse over the killing of two vicious animals like the men you shot down.”

Jack shook his head. He shifted in his chair, uncomfortable with this new vision of himself. “I've always seen myself as a fairly average, ordinary guy. No worse and no better than most people. I figure I'm just about as open to temptation, just about as corrupt as the next joe. And in spite of everything you've said, I still see myself that way.”

“And you always will,” Hampton said. “Humility is part of being a righteous man. But the point is, to deal with Lavelle, you don't have to believe you're really a righteous man; you just have to be one.”

“Fornication,” Jack said in desperation. “That's a sin.”

“Fornication is a sin only if it is obsessive, adulterous, or an act of rape. An obsession is sinful because it violates the moral precept “All things in moderation.” Are you obsessed with sex?”

“I like it a lot.”

“Obsessed?”

“No.”

“Adultery is a sin because it is a violation of the marriage vows, a betrayal of trust, and a conscious cruelty,” Hampton said. “When your wife was alive, did you ever cheat on her? ”

“Of course not. I was in love with Linda.”

“Before your marriage or after your wife's death, did you ever go to bed with somebody else's wife? No? Then you aren't guilty of either form of adultery, and I know you're incapable of rape.”

“I just can't buy this righteousness stuff, this idea that I'm one of the chosen or something. It makes me queasy. Look, I didn't cheat on Linda, but while we were married I saw other women who turned me on, and I fantasized, and I wanted them, even if I didn't do anything about it. My thoughts weren't pure.”

“Sin isn't in the thought but in the deed.”

“I am not a saintly character,” Jack said adamantly.

“As I told you, in order to find and stop Lavelle, you don't need to believe — you only need to be.”

VII

Rebecca listened to the car with growing dread. Now, there were other sounds coming from the undercarriage, not just the odd thumping, but rattling and clanking and grating noises, as well. Nothing loud. But worrisome.

We're only safe as long as we keep moving.

She held her breath, expecting the engine to go dead at any moment.

Instead, the noises stopped again. She drove four blocks with only the normal sounds of the car and the overlaid moan and hiss of the storm wind.

But she didn't relax. She knew something was wrong, and she was sure it would start acting up again. Indeed, the silence, the anticipation, was almost worse than the strange noises.