Page 84 of The Man Made of Smoke

I decided to settle the matter quickly.

“We’re here because we want to talk about what happened to you,” I said. “About what you were forced to watch.”

That got an immediate reaction, if not quite the one I had hoped for. The man’s eyes widened in panic and he made to shut the door. But he was slower than I was, and I got there first, sliding my foot quickly into the gap. The wood was so thin that it barely hurt when the door slammed into it.

And then did so again and again.

“Get out,” he spat at me. “Get out.Leave me alone.”

“Michael—”

“Go fucking away! Get the fuck out!”

“Michael.”

I placed my hand on the door. Even with me adding just that small extra pressure, he wasn’t strong enough to slam the door against my foot anymore. He struggled for a moment anyway, and then stopped trying.

Which left us at an impasse.

“Michael,” I said. “It’s okay.”

He looked at me. More obviously frightened now.

“You haveno ideawhat you’re talking about,” he said.

“I do. I—”

“You don’t know how fuckingdangerousit is for you to be here.”

A surge of anger threatened to rise up inside me. I wasn’t sure whereit came from, just that it was suddenly there: the desire to shove a little harder, force the door off its hinges, send him sprawling backward…

Detached, I reminded myself.

Calm.

“Listen to me, Michael,” I said quietly. “This is really important. I understand because Iwas therethat day too. All those years ago at the rest area. You know what day I’m talking about, right? Because you wrote about it. You made a website about the Pied Piper.”

That made him hesitate. While the terror remained in his eyes, it was obvious that what I’d said had thrown him.

“You were there too?” he said.

“Yes.”

He blinked rapidly. Then he made the connection in his head.

“Daniel?” he said. “You’reDaniel Garvie?”

“That’s right. Sarah and I were both there that afternoon.”

He looked at Sarah for a second. Then back to me.

Then he shook his head. His voice dropped to a whisper.

“Have you seen him too?”

The question made a shiver run through me. Even without telling us anything else, I knew he’d just confirmed the worst of what I’d been imagining.

“Seen him?” I said. “No, I don’t think so. But I think I do know what you mean by that, and how awful it must have been if I’m right. And if so, I think we really,reallyneed to talk.”

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