The Castrator by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (short books for teens txt) 📕

AS WELL AS THE SKILLFUL MANEUVERING OF DETECTIVE JASON SONDER, WHO INVOKED CERTAIN PROVISIONS IN THE LAW AND THREATENED MANAGEMENT INTO REFUSING TO COOPERATE IN SOLVING THE CASE, WHICH IN TURN WITH A LITTLE LUCK COULD HAVE LED DIRECTLY TO A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION - THEY WERE SMART ENOUGH AND FIGURED IT WASN'T WORTH GETTING IN THAT MUCH TROUBLE OVER. DETECTIVE SAUNDERS HAD REFERRED TO CERTAIN PROVISIONS IN THE LAW

- "MAYBE HE'S HERE IN CANADA WAITING FOR US AFTER ALL," I BOLDLY CONCLUDED.

ARLO MURMURED SOMEWHAT THOUGHTFULLY:

- I'M CONVINCED WE HAVE TO GET TO HIM OURSELVES-MAYBE HE'S EVEN CLOSE, OR MAYBE HE'S NOT.

ZONARA DIDN'T TAKE ANY ATTITUDE - AT LEAST NOT WHILE WE WERE IN THE PRISON INSTITUTION. ONLY HER EYES LOOKED AT SOME INDETERMINATE POINT.

I WAS ALREADY USED TO SOME OF THE "QUIRKS" OF MY COMPANIONS - MAYBE THAT'S WHY WE WORKED SO WELL AS A TEAM.

BUT SOMETHING STILL URGED ME NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED AS THE SITUATION BECAME MORE AND MORE ENTANGLED. IT WASN'T AT ALL OBVIOUS WHO WAS HIDING BEHIND THE MASK OF ANONYMITY, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PROMPTING US TO REVEAL HIS IDENTITY - AND WITH THE CONVICTION THAT HE KNEW THE REST OF THE PUZZLE.

I WONDERED, HOWEVER, WHERE WE MIGHT CATCH THE CLUE THAT WOULD LEAD US TO HIM. MILTON WAS A SPECIAL PLACE WITH SPECIAL PEOPLE.

AND AFTER THE INFORMATION DETECTIVE SAUNDERS HAD GIVEN US, WE NOW KNEW ENOUGH TO CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY ON OUR OWN. A JOURNEY TO THE INFINITE...OF THE HUMAN SOUL.

FELISTER TAUGHT US THAT GROWING UP ON THE STREETS WOULD NOT BE SHAMEFUL UNLESS YOU LEARNED ITS LESSONS. IT WAS DOWN TO SURVIVAL. THE SPIRIT OF THE STREET WAS A UNIVERSE THAT WAS UNIQUE. AND PERHAPS THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE STRANGER WANTED TO SUGGEST. AFTER ALL, EVEN THE APPARENT LACK OF LOGIC COULD BE EXPLAINED IN SOME FORM-SOONER OR LATER WE WERE GOING TO MEET-EYE TO EYE.

I TRIED TO MAKE SENSE OF WHETHER 222 WAS AN ADDRESS OR SOMETHING ELSE - LIKE THE PRISONER'S OWN NUMBER. WHAT IF IT WAS MUCH SIMPLER AND ELEMENTARY?

AT THE EXIT FROM MILTON WAS HIGHWAY FOUR, WHOSE NUMBER, DIVIDED IN TWO, GAVE THE SAME NUMBER, AND MAPLE AVENUE WAS DIRECTLY OPPOSITE IT, IT WAS THE SECOND WORD, WHICH MEANT A LARGE AVENUE, AND THE LAST TWO WAS PERHAPS THE HOUR AT WHICH WE WERE TO MEET-TWO AT NIGHT. WE DIDN'T HAVE A MAP HANDY, BUT WE LOOKED AT THE AREA ANYWAY, AND IT WAS EASY TO FIND - IT LOOKED LIKE THERE WAS SOME SORT OF WATERING HOLE IN THE AREA OR SOMETHING.

I SHARED WITH ARLO AND ZONER ABOUT MY OBSERVATIONS - IT WAS A RELATIVELY SECLUDED SPOT WHERE WE COULD MEET - COMPLETELY UNDISTURBED AND TACKLE THE NEXT PART OF THE MYSTERY.

THIS TIME THEY BOTH TURNED TO ME AND ASKED:

- WHAT IF IT'S A TRAP? MAYBE HE PURPOSELY WANTS TO DESIGNATE A SIMILAR PLACE TO PULL THE STRINGS.

I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND CONCEDED THE RIGHTNESS OF THEIR ARGUMENT, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND THERE WAS NO OTHER ULTERIOR MOTIVE AND NO POINT IN BEING PUT THROUGH SO MANY HURDLES TO HAVE A TRAP SET FOR US RIGHT NOW.

I REMEMBERED WELL THAT OLD TALE OF THE DREAM TRAP[1], WHERE EVIL SPIRITS WERE TRYING TO GET AT PEOPLE IN THEIR DREAMS, BUT THE WISE IKTOMI SPUN A WEB FOR THE TRIBE TO CATCH THE POSITIVE ENERGY. APPARENTLY THAT'S WHAT ARLO AND ZONARA WERE TRYING TO TELL ME. AFTER I QUESTIONED THEM, THEY NODDED AFFIRMATIVELY.

IF ALL OF THIS WERE TRUE THE STRANGER WOULD BE WAITING FOR US RIGHT THERE AT EXACTLY TWO IN THE MORNING, BUT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE HARD TO SPOT.

I DIDN'T WANT TO CRAWL AROUND THE AREA BECAUSE HE MIGHT HAVE SPOTTED US OR GUESSED OUR INTENTIONS. WE HAD ALREADY DECIDED TO SELL THE CAMPER BEFORE ENTERING MILTON, AS ALTHOUGH IT WAS COMFORTABLE, IT WAS RELATIVELY SLOW, AND WE NEEDED MORE MANEUVERABILITY.

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE NIGHT, AND IN PARTICULAR THE NUMBER TWO, SUGGESTED TO ME SOME AMBIVALENCE. AT NIGHT THE EVIL FORCES WERE PARTICULARLY ACTIVE - SO AT THE APPOINTED TIME WE PREPARED AND WAITED - IN THIS PART OF THE CITY TRAFFIC WAS FAIRLY ACTIVE, BUT AT GREAT DISTANCES FROM US OF AT LEAST THREE HUNDRED YARDS NOT A LIVING PERSON COULD BE SEEN. THE SNOW CONTINUED TO PILE UP.

AT SOME TIME, THE STRANGER APPEARED. I FELT HIS PRESENCE IN AN UNUSUAL WAY - SO STRANGE AND SUBTLE. THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT HE WAS COMING TO TELL US AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE.

HE WAS DRESSED IN SOME STYLISH BUT RATHER UNREMARKABLE GREY CLOTHES AND STEPPED VERY LIGHTLY. I COULD NOT YET SEE HIS FACE, BUT MY ATTENTION WAS ATTRACTED CHIEFLY BY THE FACT THAT, FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON, HIS CLOTHES BLENDED IN WITH THE WHITE AND GREY SURROUNDINGS.

WE WERE CLOSE TO THE ROAD THAT LED OUT OF MILTON AND INTO MISSISSAUGA, A CITY THAT OFFERED FAR MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN MILTON AND WAS RIGHT NEXT TO THE HEART OF TORONTO ITSELF.

IT STRUCK ME THAT THE STRANGER HAD EXCELLENT MANNERS AND SEEMED TO BE IN NO HURRY TO START THE CONVERSATION, AS HE WANTED TO LOOK US OVER BEFOREHAND. HE WAS COMPLETELY ALONE - CONTRARY TO MY EXPECTATION THAT HE WOULD BE BRINGING A WHOLE GANG OF GANGSTERS WITH HIM.

AFTER THE INITIAL MUTUAL EXPLORATION, WE DECIDED TO CUT TO THE CHASE. THE STORY I HEARD FROM THE STRANGER EXCEEDED EVEN MY WILDEST EXPECTATIONS AND DEFINITELY LIVED UP TO ALL THE MISHAPS WE HAD BEEN THROUGH SO FAR. IT WAS EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN I ACTUALLY EXPECTED.

"THEN THERE WAS AN INFORMER AFTER ALL, OR SOME HIDDEN TRUMP OF A FELISTER, AND MY REASONING WAS NOT WRONG IN THAT RESPECT!" THOUGHT I, LISTENING ATTENTIVELY TO THE STRANGER.

FELISTER WAS A DOUBLE-BOTTOMED MAN AND ANYTHING COULD BE EXPECTED FROM HIM - THE VERY INTRICATELY WOVEN WEB OF MANIPULATION THAT WAS THE BASIS OF HIS BUSINESS SUCCESS AND HIS SHREWD BUSINESS MOVES WERE OBVIOUSLY TIED TO SOMETHING EXTREMELY DEEP.

HE TOLD US THAT HE PREFERRED TO TALK IN SOME BETTER PROTECTED PLACE - AND WE ACCEPTED THIS CONDITION OF HIS. THIS TIME THE DRIVING WAS HANDLED BY ZONARA, WHO HAD BECOME MORE CONFIDENT IN THIS REGARD, AND ARLO KEPT A VERY CLOSE EYE OUT FOR ANY POSSIBLE TAIL AND ANY OTHER POSSIBLE THREATS. WE QUICKLY CLIMBED INTO THE CAR AND STARTED MAKING CONFUSING TURNS - THIS TACTIC WORKED FOR SOME AMATEURS, BUT SOMETIMES WELL-TRAINED ODOROLOGISTS[2] COULD USE VERY SPECIFIC TRACKING TECHNIQUES, AND A LITTLE LATER WE STOPPED ABOUT A MILE NORTH OF TOWN - YOU COULD TELL WE WERE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, AND THE SNOW HID US FURTHER. AS A MATTER OF FACT, IN SUCH WEATHER CONDITIONS, WE HAD THE REAL POSSIBILITY OF GETTING HIM TO A SAFER PLACE THAN THIS - A RURAL BARN OR EVEN A TOOL STORAGE SHED, AS UNLIKE OTHER LOCATIONS SUCH AS NEARBY OAKVILLE, THE AREA AROUND MILTON WAS MORE OF A RURAL TYPE AND CONVENIENT PLACES FOR THIS PURPOSE WERE PLENTIFUL, BUT HERE THE SNOWDRIFT ACTED AS A MAGICAL SHROUD, HIDING US FROM EVIL EYES, AND I WANTED TO HEAR SOMETHING CONCRETE FROM THE STRANGER FIRST - AT LEAST A LITTLE, AND TO MAKE SURE DEFINITIVELY THAT WE WEREN'T ON THE WRONG TRAIL AND WASTING OUR TIME WITH HIM FOR NOTHING. IT TURNED OUT THAT HE WAS INDEED THE LATE RAUL'S BROTHER, AND BORE THE NAME OF DIEGO, WHILE THE OTHER - ADOPTED BY FELISTER, WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN DETECTIVE DONOVAN'S SON - WAS ALSO NAMED DIEGO - PURE COINCIDENCE. I DIDN'T THINK SO. AND I WAS RIGHT. RAUL HAD WITNESSED THE SECRET RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FELISTER AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, WHICH WAS INTENDED TO BE HIS CONNECTION TO IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN SALT LAKE CITY, AND THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON. THE SERVICES OF DIEGO HIMSELF - I MEAN DETECTIVE DONOVAN'S LATE SON - WERE NOT AT ALL FREE EITHER, FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT THE LEGAL AND ECONOMIC PART OF THE BUSINESS WAS ENTIRELY IN HIS HANDS - AT LEAST IN TERMS OF ALLOCATING THE FINANCES TO THE APPROPRIATE STRANDS, AND RAUL WAS USED AS THE PUNISHING BLADE INSIDE THE FARM. HIS HISTORY WAS MORE THAN CURIOUS, HAVING BEEN CAUGHT ON THE GROUNDS OF A NEW CATTLE RANCH FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRIBING LOCAL POLITICIANS OF INDIAN DESCENT WHILE THE DEALS WERE BEING DONE COURTESY OF BIG BROTHER, AND BLUEBIRD HAD PROVIDED THE POLITICAL CONTACTS HE WOULD NOW USE AT WILL. HE HIMSELF WAS ... THE DOPE WAS SOMETIMES CARRIED IN FUNERAL URNS, WHICH WERE DECORATED AS SOUVENIRS WITH TYPICAL INDIAN MOTIFS AND PLACED INSIDE THE WOODEN COFFINS-ALTHOUGH TRADITIONAL INDIAN BURIAL METHODS ESCHEWED EMBALMING AND EVEN SOME OTHER PRACTICES, AND ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRADITIONS EACH FAMILY WAS TO TAKE CARE OF ITS OWN DEAD. BEING A MINORITY GROUP WITH OBVIOUS PRIVILEGES, WITH THE POWERS PROVIDED TO THEM BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT, NO ONE INTERFERED AT THEIR FUNERALS, AND THERE WAS EVEN THE PRACTICE OF RELATIVES OF SOME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BORDER DEMANDING THAT THE DEAD BE SENT TO THEM TO BE BURIED ON NATIVE SOIL, AND THIS WAS A CONVENIENT OCCASION FOR CASKET REPLACEMENTS - WELL, IT WASN'T A VERY COMMON PRACTICE, BUT IT EXISTED NONETHELESS, AND WAS PERFECTLY IN ORDER. I KNOW IT SOUNDS DISGUSTING AND INHUMANE, BUT IT WAS A GOLD MINE. THE SIMPLE MATH SHOWED THAT HE WAS CONTACTED BY THE FEDS AFTER THAT, BUT NOT BEFORE HE WAS MYSTERIOUSLY PUT INTO MAPLEHURST, WHERE HE WAS QUITE ACCIDENTALLY SET UP FOR ASSASSINATION.

- "THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM IS A COMPLETE LIE," HE SAID DESPERATELY. "THEY PROTECTED ME AT FIRST, BUT SOON THE SITUATION CHANGED AND I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE IT MYSELF - ESPECIALLY WHEN MY TESTIMONY DIDN'T SIT WELL WITH THEM."

THE SITUATION WITH FELISTER TURNED OUT TO BE MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN I HAD EXPECTED - THE MAN WAS REALLY RAUL'S BROTHER, AND HIS NAME WAS DIEGO...

YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT...

- "SO, THE ONE IN LA POINTE CEMETERY COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE ELSE, BUT NOT ..." - HE CONCLUDED QUIETLY.

HE EXPLAINED THAT HE FELT A REAL FEAR FOR HIS LIFE AND DREAMED OF THE LATE RAÚL EVERY DAY AND EVERY NIGHT, PRAYING TO GO TO HIM. HIS BROTHER WAS A DECENT MAN. BUT HE WAS SIMPLY A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE. EVEN - SOMETHING UTTERLY AND UTTERLY UNCHARACTERISTIC OF ANY MEXICAN - HE REJECTED THE IDEA OF THAT MAN-LOVING GOD WHO PUT PEOPLE FIRST. ACCORDING TO HIM, HUMANS WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN, AND ABOVE THEM WERE ALL THE ETHEREAL CREATURES AND SO ON.

- "WE'RE ALL JUST PART OF A GIANT GAME THAT WILL END SOONER OR LATER AND FOR SOME OF US WILL NEVER START AGAIN," HE SAID THROUGH TEARS.

THIS STERN AND BRUTAL MAN SOBBED - BUT NOT FROM GRIEF, BUT FROM A REALIZATION OF THE HARSH REALITY.

THE CONTINUATION OF HIS STORY COULD HAVE MOVED EVEN A ROCK, BUT I, WHO KNEW EXACTLY HOW THINGS WERE, JUST KEPT QUIET AND LISTENED - BECAUSE MY LIFE LITERALLY DEPENDED ON IT.

I FELT THAT SOMETHING MORE WAS LEFT UNSAID, BUT I WAS IN NO HURRY TO BETRAY MY IMPATIENCE, WITH WHICH I COULD SPOIL ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING AND MISS THE NEXT IMPORTANT LINK IN THE GRAND DESIGN.

- RAUL HAD LEFT SOME STRANGE MESSAGE BEFORE HE DIED, AND IT WAS THIS THAT I GAVE YOU. I BELIEVE YOU DECIPHERED IT AND UNDERSTOOD ITS MEANING, BECAUSE FRANKLY, I DIDN'T QUITE. YES, THE WORDS ARE SIMPLE AND OBVIOUS, BUT... RAUL HAD COMMITTED MANY SINS NOT FOR THE SAKE OF FELISTER, BUT SIMPLY TO SURVIVE. BUT HE WASN'T JUST A SINNER, HE WAS A TORTURED SOUL!

BUT WHAT WAS THE SECRET OF SUFFERING? AND DID IT LEAD US ON THE ROAD TO SALVATION? I COULD SEE WHAT HELL DIEGO WAS GOING THROUGH. BUT WHAT WERE THE COLOURS OF HELL? I COULD UNDERSTAND THE CLEAR SPLITTING OF HIS PERSONALITY AND HIS DESIRE TO EMERGE, TO GO BACK, TO SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE, IF THAT WAS EVEN POSSIBLE. I WAS ACUTELY AWARE OF HOW