Page 81 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

We reached the end of the hallway, meaning we were once again on the verge of going outside. There was another branch to the right, and that looked more like prison cells to me, although all the cell doors were wide open. The metal bars had withstood the test of time far better than the wooden doors, no surprise there. Glancing inside gave me the willies. Each cell was maybe eight by six, with nothing more than a bed, lavatory, and sink in there. Barely enough for a human to move around. And people still purposefully broke the law with the knowledge they could be stuck in these places for years? No helping humanity, I swear.

Speaking of…come on, perp. Where are you?

“Do you think if I call out Marco, he’ll go Polo?”

Jon snorted. “Do not tempt me.”

A sound came from the end of the hallway, the heavy tread of boots squelching in unpleasant things. Uh…? Doubted the noisewas either Marc or Gonzalez; I’d get a phone call before they came in my direction. Just to avoid friendly fire, if nothing else.

I lifted my gun up a little more, ready to aim dead center on whoever approached.

“Don’t fire, could be a ghost hunter,” Jon whispered.

I nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t shift my stance. If it was a ghost hunter, we needed to get them out of here pronto. If not, then that was likely our perp. I stayed still, waiting for him to appear, because moving in closer wasn’t going to help anything at this moment.

Seconds felt like hours as we waited in tense silence for this person to reveal themselves. Then I heard it, a deep voice muttering, almost in a rhetorical fashion.

“Fucking kids keep coming in here, don’t even know why. I’m sick as hell of chasing them off. There’s no trespassing signs for Christ’s sakes. They just ignore them. Makes me wonder why anyone put them up to begin with. I’m so fucking over this shit.”

Then he rounded the corner. The first thing I saw was the baseball bat in his hand. Well, he was armed, which meant he wasn’t fooling around. Then he came out properly into the dim lighting from the setting sun, and I got something of a look at him. He stood tall, easily able to look me in the eye, with a dirty cap pulled low, ragged jeans, and despite the heat, he had a worn-out black hoodie on. His skin was very pale, with very bad acne, and I saw hints of bright red hair that smacked of a dye job.

Jon hissed a breath in, and I knew without him saying anything, this was our guy. Good. Maybe I could get out of here now.

Douchebag stopped walking, his eyes clocking my gun, and he went abruptly still.

“Drop the bat,” I ordered him calmly. “Put hands in the air, then turn around. You’re—”

Swearing, Chad turned on a heel and bolted back the way he’d come.

Shit.

28

“GO!” I ordered, even as I took off running myself.

Donovan took off like a bat out of hell. A shot rang out, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to warn the guy into stopping or alerting Marc and Gonzalez without pulling out his phone, but the asshat didn’t stop running. I knew the other two would come rushing over, though, and just tried to keep up.

Asshole ran like his life depended on it, but that didn’t really work against Donovan. My Donovan was inexcellentshape, and with those long legs of his, not many people could really outrun him.

I think Chad realized this. He did this mid-twist thing that was almost impressive for a second before—bam—wall. Literally, a wall out of nowhere, blocking off the hallway.

Right. Materializer. Of course he was going to throw out magic tricks to block us and get away.

“Oh no you fucking don’t,” Donovan snarled.

Next thing I knew, my fiancé had hopped through one of the smashed-up windows and was right on the man’s tail all over again, having hopped back into the hallway through another window.

Now, I was athletic. That athletic? Uhh…seemed like a poor time to test it. Glass shards and all. Um, I was gonna pass on that one.

I ran back the other direction, for the doorway that led outside, because maybe I could go out that way and around the building. Find another doorway in. Maybe I could even cut him off. Flanking maneuvers for the win! If this worked.

Yes, there was a doorway! Hi, friend, nice to see you.

I dove through it, turned sharply, and started sprinting back the way I’d just come.

Through the windows, I could see Chad throwing up more things, trying to stop Donovan. Netting—which didn’t work since it wasn’t anchored. Donovan just threw it aside and kept going—then a huge bouncy house kind of inflated wall that filled the hallway, which also didn’t work. Donovan shot it twice and it deflated rapidly. He shoved right past the tattered remains without it slowing him down much.

I gave Chad points for creativity. But I also remembered what Francesca had told me. A mid-tier Materializer could only do somany materializations in a day. He’d already done a birthday party earlier today. How much juice did this man still have in him?

---