The Second Messiah

Jack said, “What now?”

“We’d be sitting ducks once we’re halfway down the hallway, so we’ll move down one at a time, me first.”

“Whatever you say.”

Behind them, Fonzi’s voice called out shakily, “Is everything okay?”

Jack whispered, “So far. Stay there. We’ll be back as quick as we can.”

“Hey, I’m not moving, guys.”

Lela stepped cautiously into the hallway. She crouched low, swinging her pistol left and right as she moved forward, keeping her back to the wall.

When she reached the end of the corridor, Jack saw her peer round both corners, flashing the torch, searching for a target with her Sig. Finally, she beckoned Jack forward and he joined her. “Well?” he asked.

“I saw the switch room door. It’s around the right corner.”

“What are we waiting for?”

“The door’s already open, Jack.”

They approached the switch room. A warning sign was fixed to the open door—a black lightning bolt on a yellow background. Aiming her Sig, Lela poked a look inside the switch room. It looked no bigger than a closet.

Jack saw it was empty and smelled of cleaning fluids. A jumble of janitorial supplies, mops, and brooms were stashed on the floor. On the facing wall was a large gray metal panel with rows of black Bakelite circuit breakers. To the left was a security panel with a keypad and several arrays of miniature colored lights. All of them were extinguished. Jack punched the keypad with a finger but got no response. “This security panel’s dead.”

He turned his attention to the circuit breakers. Each had a cardboard tag insert above it, written on in black pen, identifying which circuit it fed.

“You know anything about electricity?” Lela asked.

“I know it can kill you. That’s about the sum of my knowledge. According to Fonzi, all the breakers ought to be up. There’s our light.”

A powerful-looking yellow work light was nestled in a charger unit fixed to the wall. Jack plucked out the torch and turned it on. The tiny cupboard flooded with light, drowning out the weak beam from Lela’s penlight.

Jack studied the breaker panel. He noticed that a large, robust circuit breaker had tripped to the down position. All the other smaller breakers appeared to be up. “See there? It looks like the main circuit’s dropped out.”

“Can it be reset?”

Jack shrugged. “Maybe not if there’s a short.” He gripped the breaker between his thumb and forefinger and yanked it up. The breaker clicked into place and all the lights sprang on in the hall, including in the switch room.

“Let there be light. There you go. I guess the circuit wasn’t shorted after all. Maybe Fonzi was right and the main breaker simply popped.” Jack took a step back and dusted his hands.

Lela frowned. “Why was the switch room door ajar? And why didn’t the alarm switch over to the battery circuit, like Fonzi said?”

Jack studied the security alarm panel, then gestured to a key inserted into a lock in the panel’s side. “There’s your reason. The alarm key’s in the off position. Someone’s totally disabled it.”

A frightening scream erupted from behind them, and it stopped a split second later. Jack directed the powerful flashlight down the hall. “Fonzi!”

He raced back down the corridor, Lela following him.

104

They reached the basement. A blaze of light radiated from inside the door. Lela aimed her Sig as she moved cautiously into the room. She beckoned Jack and he joined her.

The room appeared empty. No sign of Fonzi.

The projector screen was on, the screen lit up and glowing. Fear pounding in his chest, Jack found a light switch by the door and flicked it on. A fluorescent light sprang on overhead. A darkened hallway was exposed at the far end of the basement. Beyond the hallway, an open exit door led to a short flight of gray metal stairs that rose up to ground level.

A breeze wafted in, the sound of heavy rain drumming beyond. When Jack looked back across the room he noticed Fonzi lying sprawled on the floor beside his upturned wheelchair. A horrific slash stained his neck, his throat cut from ear to ear, a growing pool of blood oozing onto the carpet.

“Jesus, no.” Jack was ashen as he went to kneel beside the body.

Lela joined him. A gurgling sound erupted from Fonzi’s lips. It sounded like a strangled cry and then he fell still. Jack felt for a pulse. “He—he’s gone. What callous brute would kill—”

“Sssh.” Lela put a finger to her lips, then aimed her Sig toward the exit hallway, just as a bulky figure dressed in dark clothes started to move up the stairs.

“Halt!” Lela shouted.

A muzzle flashed in reply and two gunshots cracked.

Lela threw herself to the floor. “Get down!”

Jack crouched low as another two shots exploded, the rounds zinging above his head like crazed hornets and thudding into the wall. As the figure moved awkwardly up the stairs, pointing the weapon back at them, Lela aimed and fired twice from a prone position. The figure grunted, spun round, and collapsed back into the hallway.