Michael Walters - The Shadow Walker

Lying on the table was a mass of severed human body parts. There were four hands, cut off at the wrist. And there were two human heads, their eyes empty and staring, placed precisely in the center of the table.

Nergui turned to Doripalam, who had positioned himself behind Nergui and was staring, horrified, into the room. “I think,” Nergui said slowly, “that Badzar has decided to fill in the gaps in our collection.”

It was nearly eight by the time Nergui arrived back at police HQ. Doripalam had called out forensics to collect the body parts, and Nergui had waited, tramping backward and forward in the deep snow, until they and the crime scene officers reached the factory.

Doripalam had asked for a full alert to be put out for Badzar’s arrest, and officers were being called back on to duty to attempt a full-scale manhunt. At least now they had a clear suspect, but Nergui knew from experience how easy it was for a fugitive to hide out in this city. He was not hopeful that Badzar would be apprehended quickly.

He had sent Doripalam and Cholon back, telling them to get some rest. He had briefly informed Cholon what had been found in the room, but had not allowed him to see the grotesque display. As he spoke, he had seen the look of horrified emptiness in Cholon’s eyes. It was no longer possible for Cholon to deny, to himself or anyone else, what his brother had been capable of. “I’m sorry,” was all that Nergui could say, but he could sense the years of uncomprehending anguish that lay ahead for Cholon.

Cholon began to walk, dead-eyed, back to the truck. Doripalam turned to Nergui. “You’ll be all right here on your own? Do you think it’s safe?”

Nergui shrugged. “I imagine so. I can’t believe that Badzar would have hung around after setting up that little show for us.”

“He’s smart, though,” Doripalam said. “How did he know we would come here? I mean-” He looked slightly embarrassed. “I mean, it was only a hunch on your part. I-well, I wasn’t sure anything would come of it.”

Nergui smiled grimly. “Neither was I, if I’m honest. But once the thought had occurred, I couldn’t ignore it. But the truth is that that display could have sat there for a long time. The light was on a timer, and I suppose Badzar could always come replace the battery at intervals if necessary. At this time of the year, the flesh wouldn’t decay quickly. He could just wait until we-or someone-happened to stumble upon it.” He paused. “And of course, if our phantom caller really is Badzar, then he might have used his next call to lead us here.”

“But what’s he up to? Why go to all that trouble to dismember the bodies, apparently to hide their identities, and then give us the missing body parts anyway?”

“I don’t know, but I have a sense that this is moving toward some endgame.” It was what he had felt all along, the sense of something moving slowly but ever more certainly toward a purpose, toward some sense of resolution. He couldn’t square this feeling with the brutal and apparently random nature of these killings, but he now felt this sense of purpose more than ever. He shook his head. “There’s something about this,” he said. “I think endgame is the right word. There is some game being played here, and I have an awful feeling we’re being treated as the pawns.”

Doripalam nodded, clearly baffled by Nergui’s speculations. “You don’t want us to wait till backup arrives?”

Nergui glanced across at Cholon, who was leaning over the hood of the truck, looking like a man who had had all the life beaten out of him. “No, you need to look after Cholon. I can’t begin to imagine what he’s going through. Get him a hotel room, see if he can get some sleep, but keep an eye on him.”

As soon as the truck had driven away, Nergui wondered if this had been a wise decision. There was no telling what Badzar might be planning. Perhaps he was observing him at this very moment, waiting until Doripalam and Cholon had driven away before moving against Nergui. Just as, Nergui thought, he might have been waiting for Drew on the night they left the embassy.

He looked uneasily around him. The yard beside the factory was silent and deserted. It was still dark, though the glow in the eastern sky heralded the approach of sunrise. In the distance, the city would be starting to come to life, the snowplows out clearing the streets. But there was no sign of that here. Nergui flashed the spotlight around the yard, catching unnerving shapes and shadows as the beam circled. He moved himself slowly back against the wall of the factory, trying to ensure that there was at least no risk of his being caught from behind.

Nergui was far from being a nervous individual, but the next twenty minutes, until the backup team arrived, were among the most uncomfortable he had ever endured. He stood, with his back to the factory wall, regularly arcing the spotlight beam around him, trying to minimize the risk that anyone might take him by surprise. He kept his hand in his pocket, resting on the cold handle of his pistol, ready to draw it at any sign of movement.

The snow was helpful to him because any figures crossing the open area of the yard would be thrown into relief by the stark whiteness, and it was virtually impossible to walk silently across the crisp drifts. The moon had risen too, and the yard was bathed in its pale light, although there were still too many shadows and dark corners where an assailant could hide.

Nergui told himself he was being ridiculous. There was no possibility that Badzar would have hung around here, no chance that he had witnessed their arrival. The risks would surely have been too great. But, clearly, they were not dealing with a rational man. It seemed there was no limit to what he might do, no way of predicting his actions.

However much he tried to rationalize his position, Nergui could not shake the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, and his mind went back to the arrow that had been fired at himself and Drew, and he realized how vulnerable his position might be.

He remained as still as possible, listening for any movement, any sound that might reveal the presence of another person. Now that the snow had stopped falling and the sky had cleared, there was a faint chill breeze blowing through the yards and alleyways between the factory buildings. He heard, once, the sound of something scattering, perhaps a paper blown in the wind, or maybe the echo of footsteps in the snow. He turned in what he judged to be the right direction, straining his ears, but could hear nothing more.

And then he heard another sound, off to his left. Unmistakable this time, the sound of scraping, snow being dislodged, someone moving. He directed the spotlight toward the sound, able to see nothing. The white sweep of banked snow rose toward a concrete wall at the far end of the factory yard. And then his spotlight caught something, raised upon the top of the wall-a shape, a shadow, moving swiftly, dropping behind the concrete. He tensed, shining the light backward and forward at the spot, but could see nothing more. Just the snow-covered top of the wall, perhaps a smudge or two where the snow had been disturbed.

He peered into the light, trying to see more. Perhaps it had been an animal of some kind, though that seemed unlikely on such a cold night. And in his heart he knew that someone had been watching him. Perhaps was still watching him

Nergui shivered. The prospect that he was being observed by the person who had been capable of such unspeakable acts of murder and mutilation, who had perhaps been responsible for Drew’s disappearance, sent a chill through his body. He crouched down, trying to present as small a target as possible, his eyes concentrating on the area where he had seen movement, but also constantly darting around the yard in case assault should come from another direction.