Michael Walters - The Shadow Walker

“Badzar?” Nergui said.

“You know who I am,” Badzar said. It was a statement, rather than a question. “I saw my brother,” he added.

Nergui took a cautious step forward. It was not evident that Badzar was armed, but Nergui had already taken too many chances. “It’s not too late to stop all this,” he said.

Badzar shook his head. “I think it is too late,” he said. “Not for me, but for others.”

“Where’s McLeish?” Nergui said. “The British policeman. You said you had him. Where is he?”

“He is not here,” Badzar said. “It is not true that I have him. Not quite true.” He held up his hand as Nergui started to speak. “But I know where he is. He is close by. He is, as far as I know, safe for the moment.”

“As far as you know? What do you mean?” Nergui felt a small tremor of relief. He did not understand Badzar’s responses, but they were bizarre enough to suggest that they could be true, that McLeish might after all still be alive. “Where is he?”

“Close by,” Badzar said. He shrugged. “I am happy to take you there, though I do not know what will happen after that. I want an end to all this. It is not what I expected.”

Nergui gently shook his head, trying to make sense of what he was hearing. Maybe it was simply that Badzar was insane, beyond all reason, disconnected from the enormity of what he had done, the crimes he had committed. But it did not feel like that. It felt, as it had to Nergui all along, as though something was emerging here, something he could not yet begin to grasp.

“It’s easy for you to put an end to this, if that’s what you want,” he said. “Take me to McLeish. Hand him over. We can deal with things from there.”

“It is not that simple,” Badzar said. “It cannot be that simple again. There have been so many crimes and this is just the start.”

Nergui took some more steps forward. Badzar did not appear to react to his approach, his hands hanging limply by his side. Nergui’s hand was in his pocket, clutching his pistol.

“What do you mean,” Nergui said, “just the start?”

Badzar shook his head. His face was visible to Nergui now, caught in the fluorescent lights. He was staring ahead, his eyes blank, his face expressionless. He did not look like a driven man, he did not look like a threat. He looked like a man who was lost, who had somehow traveled too far, too quickly, and now had no idea where he was. Nergui realized that Badzar was not staring at him as he had assumed, but was looking through him, beyond him, as if at something in the far distance. Nergui glanced behind him, wondering if this wasn’t after all some kind of trap. But then it became clear to him that whatever Badzar might be staring at, it was not anything in this room. It was not anything that was visible to the human eye.

“What is it?” Nergui said. “What are you talking about? Where’s McLeish? Take me to him.”

Badzar blinked, and his eyes focused on Nergui, as if seeing him for the first time. “I’ll take you to him,” he said. “I want to take you to him. I think he is safe. At the moment.”

“Quickly, then,” Nergui said. He did not begin to understand what Badzar was saying, but it sounded as if, for whatever reason, McLeish’s safety was far from guaranteed. “Take me to him.”

Badzar stared at Nergui. His eyes were no longer staring into nothingness, but were now fixed on Nergui. The effect was no less disconcerting. “It was him, you see,” Badzar said, as though responding to Nergui’s instruction. “He was the one. He told me to do it. He helped me.” He paused, his eyes pleading. “I would not have done it without him. Not in the same way. Not so much. Not so many.”

“Who told you to do it?” Nergui said.

“He did. He led me into this. He told me it was the only way. And then we just went on. There was no way out. No way back.”

“Who do you mean? Who are you talking about?”

“Him. He told me.” Badzar was shaking his head now, repeatedly, obsessively. His eyes were still blank. “He told me.”

“Where is he? Is he with McLeish?” Nergui looked around him at the empty, brightly lit room. He could not follow Badzar into his apparent descent into madness. Was there really some third party? Or was this just some bizarre symptom of Badzar’s insanity? If so, there was no guarantee that McLeish was still alive, no guarantee that McLeish was here at all.

“He told me to call you. To bring you to him.”

The words stopped Nergui, chills running down his spine. “He told you to call me? To bring me here?”

Badzar shook his head, looking impatient. “No, not to bring you here. That’s just it. He told me to bring you to him. He doesn’t know we are here yet.”

“Where is he, then?”

“He’s-nearby. I said I would bring you to him. But I wanted to talk. To tell you. That it was him.” “What was him?”

“Everything was him. Everything. He told me to do it. All of it. And he-was responsible.”

“Who is he?” Nergui said again.

“He is nearby.” Badzar stopped and looked at his watch. “We have no time. We have to go to him. Otherwise-”

“Otherwise what?”

“We have to go. Now. But I wanted to tell you.”

“Take me to McLeish.” Nergui pulled the pistol from his pocket. “Take me now.”

Badzar looked down at the gun, but barely seemed to register its existence. “I need to take you now,” he said again.

He turned and began to walk slowly toward the rear of the factory. There were large double doors there, clearly designed to provide access for large machinery. To the right of the doors, there was a smaller entrance for everyday access. Badzar reached it, Nergui following close behind, and pulled open the door.

Nergui followed him out into a dark narrow alleyway. It was unlit, but Nergui could see both ways along its full length. Another factory building loomed over them.

“I will take you to him,” Badzar said. He began to walk slowly along the alley, staring at the ground. Nergui followed behind, his pistol clutched in one hand, the flashlight in the other.

The alley opened into another open yard area, with a cluster of factory and warehouse buildings around it. The yard was covered with frozen snow, apparently undisturbed since it had fallen. Above them, the sky remained clear and star filled.

Badzar walked slowly across the yard, leaving a trail of footprints in the virgin snow. By now, Nergui had no idea what to expect. It was clear only that Badzar was beyond any reason.

There was another, wider alleyway at the far side of the yard. Badzar started to walk down it, but almost immediately stopped and turned to his left. “Here,” he said. “Here it is.” He gestured toward the wall of the adjacent building. Nergui followed close behind and saw that there was a narrow doorway, that had been left ajar. “In here,” Badzar said.

Nergui waved the pistol at him. “You first,” he said.

Badzar nodded, and slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside. He walked a few steps forward, and Nergui followed carefully, still suspecting a trap.

Beyond the doorway, there was a short unlit passageway. At the far end were more double doors. They were closed, but around them shone a thin line of light.

“In there,” Badzar said. “He is in there.”

“McLeish?”

“Yes, McLeish is there. And he is there. I hope we are not too late.”

“I hope so too,” Nergui said. “You go in first.”

He still had no idea what to expect, how to gauge Badzar’s sanity. His greatest fear was that McLeish’s corpse lay beyond this door. It was not clear what else might be waiting.

Badzar stepped forward and pushed open the door. Light flooded through the opening. Nergui paused, allowing his eyes to grow accustomed to the new brightness. He did not want to be caught out again.