Josh pulled out the box and pressed a little switch. The box vibrated silently for half a second.
“There. Good to go.”
“How do you know it’s on?”
“It vibrated.”
Ryan nodded. He peered up the steps into the darkness and nodded again.
“I vote yes.”
“We’ll work really fast. No screwing around.”
“Hell yeah. In your face.”
Ryan parked and they hustled up the steps with their gear. They hooked up the desktop and keyboard quickly, but powering up the equipment took forever. Josh had built most of the podcast in his car, working between his phone and laptop to piece together audio files, bumpers, and clips from Rachel’s tracks. He’d even recorded intros, outros, and narrative with the windows up and his sleeping bag over his head, but the files had to be transferred and the transfers took time.
Ryan said, “We’re hot.”
Josh pulled on a headset and they divided the work. Ryan built the web page and Josh cut the podcast. His hands shook and sweat dripped from his scalp, but he wanted to finish and get the hell out.
First thing he did was upload the videos and pix from Grady Locke’s loft and the vid of his confrontation with Sanford Richter. The Richter vid jerked and jumped, but the jumpiness gave it a gonzo cinema verité feel. Ryan copied the vids and posted them. Josh added the pix Skylar had taken of Grady Locke’s phone and the art she had made of his text exchanges with Tarly. Ryan locked the page. Done. Josh split audio tracks from the vids, dropped the clips into the body of the podcast, and listened to the result. The show was rough, but coming together.
Josh took off his headset. His hair was slick and grimy with sweat.
Ryan said, “What do you think?”
“It’s good.”
“It’s better than good, dude. It’s insane. And these vids?”
“Your idea.”
Ryan laughed.
“Holy crap, we’re awesome.”
Josh grinned. Then he laughed and they both laughed. They laughed so hard Josh didn’t hear the front door open. They didn’t know anyone was in the bungalow until a burly man Josh knew as Donghai An Bo stood in the door pointing a black pistol at them.
Ryan jumped to his feet.
“Shit!”
Josh startled as if he’d been struck by lightning.
Bo looked slowly from Josh to Ryan to Josh. He gestured with the pistol.
“Get your fat ass up. Quickly now.”
Josh felt his crotch grow warm as his bladder emptied. His entire body trembled.
“No. I’m not going anywhere. Go away. I’m not going with you.”
Bo seemed to consider this. Then he pointed the pistol at Ryan and fired.
Josh shrieked.
Ryan staggered and made a gulping sound. He looked down at the dark stain spreading on his shirt like a blossoming rose. He looked at Bo. He looked at Josh. He fell into the table and slipped to the floor.
Josh pushed to his feet.
“Ry!”
Donghai An Bo hit him in the face with the pistol. Bo hit him hard three times in the head and the face. Josh covered his head but Bo kept hitting him. Then Bo twisted Josh’s hand behind his back and shoved him into the hall and through the bungalow and away from his dying best and only friend.
63
Elvis Cole
I pulled up beside Ryan’s car and left my Corvette in the street. Pike hadn’t arrived, but I wasn’t going to wait. The bungalows were peaceful. The street was quiet. I was at the bottom of the steps when I heard a muffled crack like a baseball bat striking cardboard. A smarter person would have waited. A wiser person would have set up an ambush at the bottom of the steps. A better person would have gotten there in time. None of those people helped.
A few windows were lit from within, but the steps were unlighted and dark. I drew my gun and ran toward the sound as Leon Karsey shouted.
“What’s going on over there?”
When Karsey shouted, a man passed through the light from Karsey’s window. The man was watching Karsey’s and the other bungalows in case a neighbor tried to interfere. I angled to his blind side and crept through heavy shadows to the corner of Josh’s bungalow. His door was open and the lights were on.
Karsey shouted again.
“I’m warnin’ ya!”
Karsey’s outside light snapped on, washing the space between his and Josh’s bungalow with a dim ochre glow. The man outside stepped back and raised a stubby black automatic toward Karsey’s door, ready to cut loose if Karsey came out. The man had a bum nose and club ears and the build of a mixed martial arts welterweight.