Tommy Nightmare(33)

Then a gout of fire belched up, and rivulets of flame rushed out to the four walls of the barn. The cross and the whole altar area went up in a bright red whoosh.

Tommy walked along the dirt-rut road. The children cleared off of it and ran up the slope to the stable, to watch him from a safe distance as he passed.

“Do yourselves a favor,” Tommy said to the three of them. “Run off. There’s nothing good here. You got to sort out your own life for yourself, sooner or later.”

Tommy walked past the gaping children, and on past the farmhouse, where he could hear Mrs. Tanner wailing over her dead husband.

Then he got on his bike and headed for Texas.





Chapter Fifteen


Almost three weeks after she’d been called to Fallen Oak, Heather sat on the edge of the bed in her room at the Lowcountry Inn, and she watched the local TV news with an open mouth.

South Carolina Governor Calhoun Henderson stood at the microphone, looking a bit solemn for his press conference.

“We’ve held off any public announcements until the situation was clear,” he said. “We did not want to feed into any speculation or false rumors—and there have been plenty of those. Let’s put ‘em to rest now, folks.

“Some of you have been asking my office for an explanation of the National Guard presence around the little town of Fallen Oak,” he continued. “As usual, the rumors are far wilder than the reality. There was a small dye factory in Fallen Oak, back when cotton was king, but it’s been closed since the nineteen-fifties. Apparently certain industrial chemicals were left behind and never properly disposed. The chemicals had a volatile reaction, in connection with a storm—lightning may have been involved. A deadly gas was generated, resulting in injuries and fatalities. Specific details on those harmed are being kept confidential for the sake of the families.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Heather yelled at the television. She was on her feet now.

“I want to commend the South Carolina Highway Patrol and other first responders, as well as the South Carolina National Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, the CDC and other federal agencies, for their rapid response and quick containment of the situation. Our state and federal officials acted with speed and professionalism in protecting the people of this great state. Homeland Security assures me that the situation has been cleaned up, and no further hazards exist.

“Thank you for your time.” The governor visibly grimaced as he left the podium, ignoring the shouted questions from the press. His press secretary moved into place, a clear sign that there would be no further information of significance.

Heather raced outside, down along the walkway under the flickering fluorescent light bars, and pounded on the door to Schwartzman’s room.

He opened the door looking tired and rumpled, as if he hadn’t slept much the night before. The TV news was jangling in his room, too.

“What was that?” Heather asked. “A chemical spill? That doesn’t even make sense—”

“Keep your voice down! You want to talk, do it indoors.” Schwartzman stepped back to let her in the room.

Heather glanced at his bed. His suitcase was open, and most of his clothes were already packed. A few more items, including his shaving kit, sat beside it.

“You’re leaving?” Heather asked.

“The White House pulled the emergency funding,” he said. “The quarantine’s over.” He rolled a pair of black socks and tossed them in the suitcase.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Heather said. “It’s only been a couple of weeks. We don’t even know what happened.”

“We don’t know why so many ships disappear in the Bermuda Triangle, either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look, our resources are limited,” Schwartzman said. “We’re up against budget cuts.” He put his toiletry kit into the suitcase and zipped it.

“Two hundred people are dead, and you’re worried about budget cuts!”

“It’s not me,” Schwartzman said. “I’d like to keep looking until we find answers, even if it takes ten years. But then there’s reality. There have been no additional cases, not even suspected. There’s nowhere for the investigation to go. The labs have been running night and day, and there is no pathogen in those bodies. None, Heather.”

“But there must be something. It’s just very elusive—”

“We’re transferring them to frozen storage, for further study. But we can’t do more. We have to keep things calm.” Schwartzman double-checked each drawer in the hotel room’s dresser. They were empty. “Maybe after the election…”