BACKTRACKER by Milo Fowler (e book reader txt) 📕

"But he has never been this close to death. It has been asthough an angel sent from the Master has kept a hand of protection upon him,that he would not suffer harm." Kuan frowned at the issue of blood fromthe boy's ears. "Now he is dying. And there is nothing I can do."

"The doctor's on her way," Lennox said, a reflex response he didn't expect.

"Yes." Kuan nodded. "But it may already be toolate."

Water ran in the restroom down the hall.

"You didn't answer my question."

Kuan looked up. "Forgive me." He paused. "His...mother cameto us when he was very young. She was a followerof the Way, but the boy's father was not." He frowned as though the memorywas escaping him, fading beyond his grasp. "She was unable to remain inhis life, due to circumstances beyond her control. Yet she wanted the Way to bemade known to her son, once he reached an age when the life of his spiritbecame as important to him as the life of his flesh. She asked that my brotherYeng and I watch over him. To enter his life only when it appeared he wasready."

"But you jumped the gun a little." Two-facedhypocrites, these religious types. Lennoxhid his disdain behind a well-crafted smile.

"When you killed his father... Everything changed."

Lennox fought to keep his smile in place. "What about thekid's protector? Some washed-up private eye, isn't he?"

"If you were to ask my brother the same question, you wouldhear an entirely different answer."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of sage proverb?"

"Not at all." Kuan chuckled, but there was little humorin it. His hand remained on the boy's brow as if he were attempting to heal himby touch. "I see the man as this boy's protector. Yeng, however,sees him as a very real danger in the boy's life. His mother believed thesame."

"So you kidnapped him. I'm sure that made a great firstimpression."

"I should have earned his trust," he said, watching theshallow rise and fall of the boy's chest. "Now it may be too late."

"You're a real piece of work." Lennox recalled nearlyword-for-word the monk's demands in that empty restroom. "You talk aboutloyalty and a mother's wishes,and all you wanted was to use this kid, to threatenme into bringing down the Link and saving the souls of NewCity's zombieepidemic." He cursed. "Are you people really so blind to your ownhypocrisy? Able to see only everyone else's flaws?"

"I am a flawed human being myself," the monk conceded."I have made many mistakes in my life. And I deserve your reprimand, Mr.Lennox." He nodded. "I should never have used this poor boy for myown purpose. It was sinful of me."

Lennox was almost impressed by the display of humility. Theremay be hope for you yet, Mr. Ti.

George returned with a synthetic doctor close behind. She wentdirectly to the boy without speaking to anyone. Kuan stepped back so the doctorcould kneel in his place with a palm scanner, but his gaze did not leave theboy.

"What you said earlier, about returning us to ourown...world. Did you mean it?"

"I'm also a man of my word, Mr. Ti. If my little trip intohell isn't a wasted effort, andI end up getting what I want, then there won't be anyreason for you to remain here."

"Either of us." He meant the boy.

"Of course." Lennox squeezed the grip of the gun in hishand, muzzle staring down at the blood-soaked carpet.

SIXTEEN

Harry Muldoon remembered everything. And for the first time, hismemories made sense.

Maybe being in this other reality was having some kind ofeffect on him, clearing the cobwebs and bringing a clarity to his mind hehadn't experienced in years. Not since that fateful day in the office ofSergeant Daniel Armstrong, when he'd received that crumpled manila envelopewith the wristwatch and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland stuffed inside.

The BackTracker device and its instruction manual—deciphered withJeannie's help, of course. Muldoon remembered it like yesterday, walking intohis dark office late that night, early into the next morning...

"Keep the lights off, Jeannie," he'd said, makingstraight for the soft glow of the deskscreen and pulling the book from itsenvelope.

"Back so soon?" Always with that ironic tone, like shewas more than a mere AI—and boy, did she know it.

"I need you to scan this book and connect the dots."

"A book? Interesting." She paused. "I thought wehad decided you were going home for the night."

"Morning now. Check for yourself." He opened to thefirst page and glanced at the scattered letters circled in meticulous blackink. Then he pressed the page against the deskscreen. "Scan." Thisis going to take a while. He turned to the next page, pressed it down."Scan." Good thing it's a short book.

"If you would like, I'll scan the entire text for you."

"You can do that?"

"Yes." Had she almost laughed? "Just say theword."

"Okay. Scan the whole thing."

SCANNING... scrolled across the upper periphery of the desk.

"And for your information, three A.M. is seldom consideredmorning."

Muldoon smirked. "Late to bed, early to rise." He stareddown at the book's binding, his haggard face washed in the glow of thedeskscreen.

"You could not have been in bed for very long."

"None of your business, Jeannie."

"Did you and Mrs. Muldoon enter into a heated verbalexchange?" She didn't skip a beat.

"You mean a fight? No. We don't fight." We...debate.We argue. Sometimes. Fighting was forcouples who valued winning over loving.

"She was already asleep when you arrived at home."

He hung his head a little. "Yeah."

SCAN COMPLETE.

"Alright." He set the book aside and started swiping thedigital pages across the surface of the desk. "You see all these letterscircled at random? Well, they're not random at all. They—"

"Shall I compose the entire message for you, Mr.Muldoon?"

"That's my girl." He grinned, releasing the digitalcopy. It floated across the screen and out of sight.

"Where did you find this book?"

He flipped through the actual pages. The smell of the paper andglue reminded him of his youth, of his dad reading him stories by H.G. Wellsand Jules Verne. Impossible things always happened in those tales."Someone left it for me over at Armstrong's precinct."

"Someone?"

"Cyrus Horton." Or so