JERRY! Alexa screamed in hysterics through her tears, unable to take even half a step towards.
The Racer made a sharp movement with his hand and a loud crunch was heard in Jerrys neck. Then he lifted the guys immobilized body a little more and threw it to the side with some ease. Jerrys body flew through a steel mesh fence and into the boathouse office window. There was a crash of breaking glass, which fell into many pieces. Jerrys head, arms and torso were inside on the other side of the broken window, while Jerrys legs were left dangling outside. His body remained hanging on the windowsill.
Alexa screamed even louder. This scream did not become quieter even after she continued to run away, noticing how the Racer continued to follow her at a fast pace. He did not run, but his steps were long. Each imprint of his shoes on the sand seemed to leave a trace of death, which was already rushing towards the inhabitants of Heartstone. Alexa felt the full weight of these steps. Her chest was squeezing and her heart was pounding against her ribs. She continued to run in hysterics until she ran into the fence that separated the boat station area from the public beach. The steel mesh was attached to iron pipes of small diameter. Alexa jumped onto the mesh, hooked her fingers on it and began to desperately crawl up it.
She screamed something incoherent and called for help. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and the trembling in her voice made the scream not as loud as she would have liked. Before her eyes there was still Jerry, flying over the fence, as if he had jumped from a trampoline.
Three meters of the fence separated Alexa from entering the territory of the boat station. She caught on to the very edge of the fence mesh and had already begun to drag her body over the pipe to which the mesh was attached. Suddenly she felt something grab her left leg, like a ring that was squeezing like a vice. Feeling this touch, the girl experienced a coldness that sent a shiver through her entire skin from her heels to her head. The Racers hand held Alexas leg in a death grip. The girls screams became stronger, but immediately stopped as soon as the Racer sharply pulled her leg down, as a result of which the end of the pipe entered the soft tissue in the lower jaw, passed into the oral cavity, pierced the palate and reached the inner surface of the skull through the brain. Alexas pupils disappeared, sharply rolling upward, leaving the whites of her eyeballs in their place.
16. When God and death come together
John Minton was carving up freshly killed nutria carcasses while Deborah washed the dishes after putting the chicken in the oven. After dinner, she planned to start working on the cake so she could let it soak overnight. But Ursula was still not there.
This monkey is stuck in the supermarket again said Deborah. Then she looked at the digital clock on the kitchen set and added: Shes been gone for two hours now.
Come on John answered, cutting the nutrias ribs with pruning shears. As if you dont know how much she loves to talk. Shop across the street. She didnt go to the other end of the town. Ill finish now and go get her.
Deborah finished drying the dishes and looked at the watch once again. Then she turned to husband:
John, go get her. Ill cut up the nutria.
John handed the pruning shears to his wife and went into the hallway. He looked at the marks that were left on the T-shirt from the meat and decided to wear a shirt instead.
He went outside and thought about how suspiciously cool the nights were this summer. Having lived in Heartstone all his life, he didnt remember anything like this. It seemed to him that if he had known in advance what the temperature was outside, he would have wanted to throw on something warmer. But it was not far to go. John crossed the road and entered the supermarket, which was soon to close. Entering the trading floor, he saw one working cash register, on which Cassandra Bello was dozing. He walked up to her and gently placed his hand on the girls shoulder. But she still got scared and jumped up with a slight exclamation:
No, no, I dont I dont, its
Quiet, quiet.
Only then, having looked a little closer, she said in a calmer tone:
Oh, Mr. Minton. Its you.
Dont sleep, Sandra. Yann could show up at any second.
She looked at her wristwatch, counting down the minutes until the end of the work day.
Yes. Its good that it turned out to be you Cassandra answered, trying with Homeric difficulty to lift her lead-filled eyelids.
Im picking up Ursula.
Yes, okay Cassandra said, not quite recovering from sleep. But suddenly she said: Wait, Mr. Minton. Didnt she come home?
No.
Cassandra began to strain her memory.
She went through the cash register. Well, yes. I remember exactly. Yes, she also took yeast.
Are you sure? the girls father asked, narrowing his eyes.
Quite. But I couldnt have dreamed it. Just a second Cassandra added at the end and went deeper into the trading floor.
She approached her partner.
Raymond.
Having finished arranging the bottles of mineral water, he responded:
Hm-yes.
Is the boss nearby? Cassandra asked in a whisper.
Raymond looked back and said:
Relax, friend. Whats happened?
Raymond began unpacking the lemonade box while listening to Cassandra.
Was Ursula in the store?
He looked at his partner and said:
Well, yes. I chatted with her for another ten minutes. As usual, we chatted a little, then she took something from the shelf near the powdered sugar and walked towards the cash register. Did you fall asleep and now you dont understand whether you dreamed or in reality? Raymond said the last words with a slight smile.
Mr. Minton has arrived. He says she didnt return home.
Raymond thought about it. After a short pause, he broke the silence:
Kind of weird. Its right across the road. What could have happened?
Thats what I think.
Soon Cassandra returned to the checkout, where Ursulas father was still waiting.
Sorry, Mr. Minton. Then Cassandra began to speak, concentrating on one point somewhere to the side, as if she was recalling a poem she had learned by heart: Ursula was definitely here. She definitely took the yeast and paid at the checkout. We exchanged words before saying goodbye, and after that she left.
John touched his closed eyelids with his fingers, then lowered his palm, closed his lips and opened his eyes. One could read a state of complete confusion on his face.
Noticing this grimace, Cassandra asked:
Are there any friends nearby that she could meet and hang out with?
John silently shook his head and then asked for a phone to call the sheriffs office.
Leonardo Benetti watched through tears as Ursula Mintons corpse in a body bag was loaded into a van that would take the body to the morgue. Her identity was identified after Harry reported on the radio that he had received a call from a man who reported his lost daughter. The description height, age, hairstyle, hair color and clothing everything matched.
Lowering his head and burying his face in the ground illuminated by spotlights, Sheriff Desmond Poe said in a faded voice:
We need to tell the parents.
After these words, Father Benetti seemed to cheer up. He said:
Sheriff, trust me with this. I know the Mintons. Especially John. I will try to soften this blow for the parents heart, if this is at all possible.
The sheriff did not object. He doubted that he could find the words to convey such terrible news to the girls parents.
Father Benetti hurried back to his blue 77 Chevrolet Nova, which he had left on the side of the road, started the engine and hurried to the Minton family home. Along the way, the padre ran a handkerchief over his face twenty times, wiping away tears. Having driven halfway, he noticed that the eyes already looked normal. All that was left were reddened areas of skin around the eyes.
Soon the priests Chevrolet was parked in front of the Minton familys home. He looked in the rearview mirror again, took in as much air as possible, exhaled sharply and glanced at the windshield. He wanted to wait another minute to let his heart calm down a little. But John Minton appeared ahead, leaving the supermarket building and crossing the road very slowly and with short steps in the dim light of the street lamps. Father Benetti hurried out of the car and headed towards John.
Примечания
1
The ninth part of the series of novels about Fantomas by French writers Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allen.