Despite his fear that his eyesight had been
permanently damaged, Abraham Darker could see again within the week. After several days of stumbling blind through the house and eating
whatever smelled safe to eat from the roach-infested cupboards and a
refrigerator overgrown with mold, he was finally able to peer in the
bathroom mirror beneath a twenty-five watt bulb and clean the festering
blisters about his face. For several days afterward, his peeling skin
itched, and he scratched his face raw.
King sent for him. Delaney arrived at the house to
fetch him. Abe put on a pair of sunglasses to deal with the morning sun.
The semi-circle of motel cabins at the north end of
town had become a fortress. Openly armed guards stood at the entrance. Somehow, Silver Ridge had been isolated from the world. Sheriff Krueger
and key county officials had been bought off, or intimidated. Two county
supervisors had vanished from the face of the earth. The only inhabitants
left in town were those employed at the die-casting plant and their
immediate families.
Delaney parked haphazardly in front of the cabins of
the motel courtyard. King stood in the center of the court, peering up at
the Trevor hill through a pair of binoculars.
King turned to the newcomers as they approached. “You have redeemed yourself in my eyes, Abraham Darker. It took resolve
to fulfill your mission considering the anguish you bore upon the deaths
of your family members. I dispose of lesser men, but I rejoice when men
of resolve are added to our ranks.”
Abe could think of nothing to say. Both King and
Delaney stared at him with a curiously benign expression.
“Our critical shipments will be arriving soon,” King
said. “Concentrate on keeping your manufacturing facility running
smoothly. I want our merchandise shipped as soon as it arrives.”
It was at least a step toward normalcy. Once King’s
contraband had gone through Silver Ridge, King would leave, and the
nightmare would end. “Yes, sir. I’ll see to it.”
“Trevor Industries will be sending its own people to
investigate the destruction of the house,” King added. “We have dealt
effectively with local authorities. Private investigations will have to
be handled in a more creative and direct fashion. Assist Delaney when the
time comes.”
Abe tried to hide his unwillingness to do that. Trevor Industries had been Silver Ridge’s benefactor for an entire
century. The die-casting plant had been kept open in honor of the
company’s humble beginnings in the now depleted silver mines.
“One further matter.” King drew ominously closer. “I do not wish to destroy Lazarus Darker. I want to study his illness. I
will free him soon. When he returns home, do not further injure your
brother. When our business here is concluded, you may do as you see fit,
but not at this time. Do you understand?”
Abe managed a curt nod of acknowledgment.
“Formidable strengths are often born of intense
suffering,” King said. “Often you refuse to acknowledge such strengths
when you think the suffering has been earned and is the product of a just
vengeance. Do you understand?”
Abe understood nothing. “Yes, sir,” he said.
King grinned broadly, his metal teeth gleaming in the
sun. “Then you are dismissed.”
Novels by
William G. Tedford