BACKTRACKER by Milo Fowler (e book reader txt) 📕

ballbouncing in the hall. Which moment had taken place first? The chicken or theegg?

"So you don't live here," Horton observed as Muldoonknocked. "You know someone here—a friend, yes?"

"Not really."

"A lover?"

Muldoon ignored him. The alternative—knocking the old fool to thefloor—could have drawn unwanted attention.

The door clicked open and slid deliberately to the side. A foulreek wafted out from the darkness within.

"Aw, that's nasty." Horton covered his nose and mouthwith one hand. "What the hell died in there—after crapping itselfroyally?"

"After you." Muldoon stood aside.

Horton looked aghast. "We're not going in there, arewe?"

"If it's all right with her."

"Who?"

Muldoon nodded toward the open door.

Horton jumped back a step at the sight of the small apparitionstaring up at him. "Well, hello there..." he trailed off, swallowingnervously.

The girl's eyes sagged unblinking behind the tangled mess of herhair. She didn't say a word. Muldoon knelt down to her eye level. She noticedhis movement and turned her vacant gaze upon him.

"Hey. Remember me?" He waited for a response of somekind. There was none, not even a glint of recognition in her eye. Andyet—she opened the door to us, and with less hesitation this time. "Ineeded to use your vidcam earlier. I was looking for someone."

"Speaking of which..." Horton glanced at the lensesmounted above the doors around them. "Ready for your close-up?"

Muldoon focused on the girl before him. "My...friend and Ineed a place to talk, someplace safe." He didn't want to frighten her,even as he wondered if there was anything that could. "Can we step insidefor a little while?"

She fixed him with a silent stare.

"Parents brought her up right, and that's a fact. No talkingto strangers." Horton wiped at his nose. "Kind of sucks for us,though. You sure there's nowhere else you can go?"

Shut up, old man. Muldoonclenched his jaw, bit his tongue. Whatever it took to hold himself in check.

The girl turned away, dissolving into the darkness inside. Leavingthe front door open.

"I guess we have our answer," Horton quipped.

Muldoon rose and entered the unit without a glance back. Hortoncursed under his breath, shaking his head. Then he shrugged and leaned away,taking a deep breath and holding it, cheeks bulging, before he followedMuldoon inside. The door slid shut on his heels, and he was enfolded in thefetid darkness. Jerking against his own gag reflex, he kept a hand to his face.

"Breathe shallow." Muldoon took the old man's elbow andguided him across the littered floor of the living room, past the couch wherethe zombie parents sat staring into space, twitching at untimed intervals.Oblivious to any reality outside the Link. "This way."

"Can you see?" Horton's voice was muffled.

"No."

"Where are we going?"

"Bathroom." Muldoon carried a fairly accurate map of theunit in his mind's eye. The floor plan was identical to his own, the same asevery other single-bedroom, single-bathroom unit in the building. Theirdestination lay at theend of a short hallway on the right.

"Where's the girl?" Horton blinked repeatedly, as if itwould cure his blindness.

"Watching us."

"How do you know her?"

I don't. Muldoon reached out, felt along the wall forthe doorframe.

"Here." He pulled Horton forward and pushed himstumbling inside.

The ceiling globe came to life, sensing their presence, and withit a rickety ventilation fan kicked on. Horton cowered under the sudden glare,wincing. Muldoon kept his eyes on the black and white checkered floor tiles ashe slid the door shut behind them. It was close quarters, enough room for onlyone to stand in front of the cracked sink between the toilet and the showerstall, rimmed with black mold. Exposed pipes dripped tepidly.

"Sit." Muldoon nudged the old man against the toilet.

"Right." Horton faltered, bumping against the sink andthe man beside him, until he came to rest on the cracked toilet seat.

Muldoon leaned against the crusty shower door and folded his armsacross his chest. He fixed the old man before him with a direct stare. Hortonblinked and sniffed once, twice. Shrugged with half a grin.

"Well, at least the air's better in here," he said.

Muldoon pointed upward. "Fan."

"Right. Good idea." Horton chuckled. "Don't knowhow they can live like this. That stench out there. Holy crap!" He caughthimself. "Well, maybe not so holy."

"Talk." Muldoon was in no mood for brainless chatter.

Horton nodded. "That's why we're here, right? But I've got toask: Why here? Your own building, I mean? Don't you have anywhere else?Don't you know anybody else?" He paused. "They're going to find you.It's only a matter of time. You realize that, right? Not just the city cops.We're talking Federal police here. Blackshirts. Lennox has connections in highplaces, and you just shot up his joint, but big." He paused."Translation: you're in some pretty deep doo-doo."

Tell me something I don't know.

"Talk." Muldoon contemplated killing the old man andleaving him there to rot along with everything else. But the girl... Shedidn't deserve that. She didn't deserve any part of this life.

"Straight to the point? Of course. Well, here it is, withoutfurther ado: I made a mistake." Horton's gaze dropped, and he stared at the checkered floor for a moment. "Thatabout sums it up. And now everything's gone to hell. At first, I thought it was all my fault, that I'd somehowmanaged to unravel everything—unintentionally, of course, but that's littleexcuse. The damage was done, and I thought for sure I was the culprit. But thatwasn't the case, not all of it." He shook his head fiercely. "Took alot of doing, believe me, but I managed to fix everything. I wiped away everysingle fingerprint at the scene of the crime, so to speak, all that I mighthave left behind—left everything the way it was, undisturbed, the way Godintended. No trace of my meddling with things in the past." He bit hislip. "But the resultants remained."

"Am I supposed to understand any of that?"

"Sorry." He looked up. "I'm dumbing this down asmuch as I can."

"Try explaining this: How'd you manage your vanishing act?Right outside this unit earlier tonight." That timeframe sounded right,but he wasn't sure.

Horton opened his mouth to reply but tucked his tongue into hischeek and winced instead. "You saw that, huh?"

Muldoon nodded.

"Those damn cameras over everybody's door. An invasion ofprivacy, that's what they are.