Effeighteen

Finster checked the street outside one more time and walked to his car. The air was still cool on this April morning, but soon it would warm up. Already, he could smell the dead. He placed a few more items he had taken from the store into the back seat of the car, and started for the apartment building.
At the ally, he stopped for a while to survey the area. He saw no one. Everything was peaceful. He thought for a moment that he had seen some movement in the apartment window. That might be good. He tried the ally doorway he had used the day before. It was not locked.
As he climbed the stairs, he paused on the landing to examine the street below. It appeared to be empty. He continued on up to the apartment. He knocked softly. There was no answer. Then he tried the door. It opened.

The windows faced to the west, so there was not much light this early in the day. He paused to let his eyes adjust. This room seemed empty. He wondered if the girl had heard him coming and hid. He would check the closet with it's hidden chamber. As he stepped out into the room, he heard someone cocking a gun behind him, and froze.


From her hiding place, Sally heard someone enter the apartment. She listened as they searched the rooms looking for her. It was obviously not the man who had hid with her. He would have known where to look.

She heard what sounded like a cell phone, and then, a man's voice.
"No, there's no one here... it looks like she just left."
Then he was quiet for a moment, listening.
"Good... I'll be waiting for him."
Then all was quiet again. Sally would have thought he had left, except she hadn't heard the door. And then, she heard the stairs creaking again, a soft knock, and then the door opened.


"Put your hands on your head, and turn around."
Finster complied. He saw a large man with a gun, standing in the dim light.
Sgt. Stevens had Finster stand against the wall as he patted him down, and cuffed him. He took the 45.
"We finally got you," he said, "Now where is she?"
Finster heard someone climbing the stairway in the hall, and then Larry entered. He looked relieved.
"We got him," he said. "Now maybe we can get out of here."
But Stevens wasn't finished.
"Where is she?" he asked again.
Finster had a good idea where she might be, but he had no intention of telling. All he said was,
"Who?"
Stevens backhanded him.
"You know dammed well, who!"

Finster was surprised at the force of the blow. His hands were cuffed behind his back and he struggled to keep his balance. Larry looked at Stevens in surprise. He had not expected this.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Stevens ignored him, and slapped Finster again.
"Tell us where your lady friend is!" he demanded, and when Finster was silent, he punched him in the gut. Finster doubled over and fell to the floor.

"Take it easy!" Larry said. "Dr. Ekhard won't like this."
"Dr. Ekhard will want the woman too, won't he?"
Larry knew that was true, and was quiet.
Finster lay on the floor, trying to catch his breath as Stevens looked down at him.
"We know you came here to see her," he said, and kicked Finster several times.
Finally, Larry could stand it no more and grabbed Stevens.
"For God's sake stop it!"
"Why?" Stevens asked, "All Ekhard needs is his DNA. The bastard is a murderer."
But he stopped the beating. Finster lay on the floor moaning.

"Well, there's nobody else here now," said Larry. "Let's take him back to the water plant and get ready to go."
"OK," Stevens said reluctantly. He would have gotten points for bringing in two of them. He pulled Finster to his feet. "Maybe we can get out of here by noon."




*The Fuzz realizes that if someone were to actually read this stuff, they would be getting it sorta backwards. There is a link in the sidebar, "Finster", that will take one to another page with this mess in it's proper order.