was right.
Tracy raced back to her apartment. She showered quickly and changed into clean clothes. She was impatient to look at her notes from the visit to the Overlook, but she wanted to wait until the staff was gone and, hopefully, Barry with them.
The rain stopped by 6:30. Tracy was relieved to see that the lights in Matthew Reynolds's living quarters were out when she arrived at the office. She let herself in through the back door and found her notes from the visit to the Overlook in her case file.
Tracy reread pages 1289 and 1290 of Volume XI to confirm her suspicions.
Then she went back to her car and drove to Salem.
At exactly 7:20 on Friday evening, moments before Tracy turned off I-5 at the second Salem exit, Bobby Cruz parked his car on a narrow gravel side road and walked across a field that bordered the farmhouse where Chuck Geddes was hiding Charlie Deems.
The field was damp from the rain that had stopped around seven o'clock, and there was an ozone smell in the air. When he reached the house, Cruz circled it cautiously, peering into windows so he could figure out the number of targets.
The two cops assigned to guard Deems were watching a Blazers game on the TV, in the living room. Unfortunately, Deems was not with them. If he had been, Cruz could have held all three at gunpoint, shot Deems and escaped without having to kill the cops. Now he had to take them out.
He couldn't risk Deems escaping while he dicked around in the living room tying people up. Cruz didn't mind killing cops, but Raoul was paranoid about doing anything that would bring down heat on the business. He knew he'd have to listen to Raoul scream at him, but Raoul's ass wasn't on the line.
Cruz slipped through an unlocked side door into a short hallway that led to the kitchen. To the right was a stairway to the second floor. Cruz guessed that Deems was probably sacking out in an upstairs bedroom.
When Cruz stepped around the corner into the living room the cops looked shocked. One of them was drinking a glass of soda and balancing a plate with a sandwich on his lap. He jumped up. Pieces of bread, a slice of tomato and slabsof turkey went flying. Cruz shot the officer in the forehead while he was going for his gun. He was dead before his plate shattered on the hardwood floor.
The second officer had fast reflexes. While Cruz was shooting his partner, he was rolling and ducking. He almost had his gun out when Cruz shot him in the ear. Cruz took a second to check the bodies to make certain they were dead.
There was a silencer on Cruz's gun and both kills had been accomplished with a minimum of noise. Cruz moved to the living-room entrance and scanned the hall. He strained to hear any sound that would indicate that Deems was on the move. When he heard nothing he went down the hall to check the kitchen, before going upstairs to finish his work.
Cruz crouched low and swung through the kitchen door into more pain than he could imagine. The pain covered every inch of his face. It blinded and paralyzed him and it deafened him to the cry of animal rage that came from Charlie Deems's throat as he stepped out of the kitchen and turned the cast-iron skillet sideways. This time, instead of smashing the flat of the pan into Cruz's face, Deems swung the edge against his right shin. Bone snapped and Cruz collapsed on the floor.
When he swung the skillet, Charlie's face looked crazed, but a horrific smile transformed his features into a demonic mask as he watched Bobby Cruz twitch on the hall floor. The pan had smashed every part of Cruz's face, and it was hard to make out his features because they were covered with blood.
Deems caught his breath. Cruz's gun was on the floor where he had dropped it as he staggered back after the first blow. Charlie picked it up and put it on a hall table. Then he methodically crushed the fingers on both of Cruz's hands. When he was certain Cruz was incapacitated, Charlie looked in the living room.
The cops were so obviously dead, Deems didn't bother to look at them closely.
Cruz moaned. 'Time to go to work,' Deems sighed. He went into the kitchen and traded the skillet for several sharp knives and a pitcher of ice water. When he came back into the hall, Cruz was looking at him with glazed eyes.
'Hey, Bobby. How you doin'?' Charlie asked with his trademark grin.
Cruz sucked air.
'Sorry about the teeth.' Deems chuckled. 'It's gonna be tough getting dates for a while, amigo.'
Cruz tried to say 'fuck you,' but his mouth didn't work right.
Deems laughed and tousled Cruz's hair.
'Sorry, Bobby, you're not my type. I'd rather fuck Abigail Griffen. But thanks for the offer.'
Cruz mumbled something and Deems smiled.
'I bet you just cursed me out again. Am I right? But that's not necessary. A smart guy like you doesn't have to resort to this macho bullshit. In a situation like this, you should be using your brains. Of course, you weren't using your brains when you came in the side door.
Didn't you wonder why it was the only door that wasn't locked?'
Deems paused to watch Cruz's reaction, but Cruz wouldn't give him the satisfaction. That was okay. Charlie loved a challenge. He squatted next to Cruz and continued speaking as if they were friends seated in bistro sipping a good dark beer.
'I knew Raoul was gonna send you after me sooner or later, so I've been watching for you. When I saw you creeping through the tall grass like a wetback crossing the border, I slipped downstairs and fixed it so you could get in.
'Now, I should be angry, because you just tried to kill me, but I'm not.
You don't know it, but you've given me the chance to do some really naughty things without getting caught. See, I'm going out for a while.
Then I'll come back and call Geddes. I'll tell him how you killed the cops and tried to kill me. You're gonna be my alibi. Is that some great plan or what?'
Cruz still stared defiantly. Deems looked amused.
'Don't be that way, Bobby. I don't know why you're mad at me. I'm not mad at you. In fact, if you tell me where you stashed your car, I promise I'll kill you quickly. What do you say?'
'Kiss my ass,' Cruz managed. Deems laughed.
'These offers of sexual delight are hard to pass up, but I'd rather play Jeopardy! The guards used to let us watch it on the row. It's my favorite.'
Cruz refused to answer. Deems drove a knife into his thigh.
The scream pierced the air and Cruz's right leg shot forward, causing more pain in the fractured shin.
'Sound check,' Charlie told Cruz. 'I had to make certain that you can talk, because you can't play Jeopardy! unless you can answer the questions.'
Deems pulled out the knife and Bobby groaned. Deems splashed some ice water on Cruz's face and slapped his cheeks.
Cruz opened his eyes. Deems slapped him again, hard, and said, 'Pay attention. Here's how the game works. I'm gonna give you the answer and you have to say the question. Like if I asked, 'He was the first President of the United States,' you'd say, 'Who was George Washington?'
Get it?
'Now, if you get all the answers, you get the grand prize. It's an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii for you and the wife and kids, plus a Buick convertible. Sounds good, right? But if you miss the question, uh-oh, there's a penalty. I'll keep you guessing about that.'
Charlie winked at Cruz and noted, with satisfaction, that the macho glint was leaving Cruz's eyes. Fear was their new resident.
Cruz was tough, but Charlie was crazy and he was sounding crazier by the moment. If there was one thing tough guys like Cruz could not deal with, it was the unknown, and crazy people were the ultimate unknown.
'Our first category is American history. Here's the answer.
'He was President Millard Filmore's Secretary of State.' What's the question?'
'What?' Cruz asked.
'Wrong answer, Bobby. Watt was a Scottish engineer who made improvements on the steam engine.'
Deems grabbed Cruz's right hand and stabbed him through the palm, pinning the hand to the floor. Cruz
