Darkly Dreaming Dexter | Page 6

T
im e s toppe d for F athe r D onova n. “
N o,” he said.

“
Y es,” I s aid. “
O h, no,” he said. “
O h, ye s,” I s aid. H
e s cre am ed, “ NOOO O!” I ya
nked on t he noos e. H is s cre am w as c ut off a nd he fell t o hi s kne es. H e m ade a w et c roa ky
w
hi m pe ring s ound a nd covered hi s fa ce . “ Yes,” I s aid. “ It's a terri ble m ess, i sn' t i t? ” H
e us ed hi s w hol e fa ce t o c los e hi s e ye s. H e c oul d not look, not now, not like thi s. I di d not blam e
hi
m, not really, i t w as a terri ble m ess. It ha d bot hered m e j us t t o know it w as t he re sinc e I ha d set i t
up for hi
m. But he had to s ee i t. H e ha d to. N ot jus t for m e. N ot jus t for t he D ark P asse nge r. For
hi
m. H e ha d to s ee . A nd he was not looki ng. “
O pe n your e yes, F athe r D onova n,” I s aid. “
P le ase ,” he said i n a terri ble l ittl e w himpe r. It got on m y nerves ve ry ba dly, s houl dn't ha ve, icy- c
le an c ont rol, but it got to m e, w hining i n the fa ce of t hat m ess on t he floor, a nd I ki cke d hi s l egs
out
from under him. I ha uled ha rd on t he noos e a nd gra bbed the ba ck of hi s ne ck w ith m y right
ha
nd, t hen s la m med hi s fa ce i nt o t he filthy w arpe d fl oorboa rds. There w as a litt le bl ood a nd that
m
ade m e m adde r. “
O pe n t hem,” I s aid. “ Ope n your e yes. O pen t hem N OW . L ook.” I grabbed hi s ha ir a nd pul le d hi s
he
ad ba ck. “ Do a s you' re tol d,” I s aid. “ Look. O r I wil l c ut your e yeli ds right off your fa ce.” I w
as ve ry c onvi ncing. A nd so he did i t. H e di d a s he was t ol d. H e l ooke d. I ha
d worke d hard to m ake it ri ght , but you ha ve to us e w hat you' ve got to w ork w ith. I c ould not
ha
ve done it a t a ll i f t he y ha d not been t here long e nough for e veryt hing t o dry up, but the y w ere so
ve
ry di rty. I ha d mana ge d t o c le an off m ost of t he di rt, but som e of t he bodi es ha d be en i n the
ga
rde n a very l ong t im e a nd you c ouldn't t ell w here the di rt be gan a nd t he body s toppe d. You ne ver
c
oul d tell, re ally, w hen you s top t o think a bout it. S o di rty— T
he re w ere seve n of t hem, s eve n s mall bodi es, s eve n e xtra -di rty orpha n childre n laid out on rubbe r
s
how er s heets , w hich a re ne ate r a nd don' t l eak. S eve n s tra ight line s poi nting s tra ight acros s t he
room
. P
oi nt ing ri ght at F