Beth Amos Second Sight (epub)

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.The door to the building wasn’t locked and Marlie pulled it open, propping her shoulder against its weight as it tried to close again.A narrow band of moonlight splashed across the floor, stretching and thinning her shadow until it resembled that of an extraterrestrial creature.She pulled a small flashlight from her pocket and aimed it straight ahead.A narrow beam of light shot forth, looking meager and pathetic as it cut a path through the interior gloom.Ahead of her, the room was littered with the detritus of the plant’s closure: partially dismantled machinery, scraps of metal and wire, emptied steel bins, and an assortment of chains and gears that either hung from the walls and ceiling, or snaked along the floor where they’d been dropped.Trash lay everywhere: empty soda cans, chunks of cardboard, dozens of papers, and a smattering of Styrofoam cups, one of which rocked slowly on its side not ten feet away, stirred by the faint breeze coming through the open door.Off to her left were two large propane tanks and she traced the pipes that ran from them – up the wall and across the ceiling – until they disappeared into building’s gloomy depths.Straight ahead, a series of long metal tracks hung suspended from the ceiling, the closest one sporting a thick dangling chain with a nasty-looking hook at its end.Dark stains mottled the floor beneath the tracks, and Marlie wrinkled her nose at the faint scents of blood, death, and fear still lingering in the air.A hand clamped down on her shoulder, and Marlie whirled around, slapping one hand over her chest.“Jesus Christ, Chris!” she hissed.“You scared the shit out of me!”“A little tense, are we?” His cap was now in place, obscuring most of his hair.A renegade cloud passed in front of the moon, casting his face in a mix of light and shadow and giving his head a skull-like appearance.He peered over Marlie’s shoulder into the gloom, then gestured toward the video camera in his hand.“It’s pretty dark in here.If someone does show up, I hope to hell there’s a light source inside, or I’m not going to catch much.I’m willing to bet they didn’t leave the power on when they left this place.”Marlie ran her flashlight down the wall beside the door until she found a light switch.She gave it a quick flick, but nothing happened.“Don’t worry about it,” she said.“Film would be great, of course, but I can get by without it.” She patted the tape recorder tucked into the waistband of her pants.“Worst case scenario – we play the audio tape on air with some sort of picture montage.”Chris grimaced and wrinkled his nose.“Man, this place stinks.”“Get used to it.We’re going to be here a while.Let’s find some place to set up.We’ve got a little less than an hour.” She handed the weight of the door off to Chris and stepped further inside.Shining her light to the right, Marlie saw several abandoned offices.An old metal desk sat in one, its surface littered with papers and dust.In the doorway of another, a metal filing cabinet lay on its side, two of its drawers missing.“We might be able to hide in those offices,” she suggested, gesturing with the flashlight.She then aimed the light to her left, peering into a seemingly endless expanse of darkness.“I can’t imagine anyone venturing any deeper into this place than they have to,” she said.“But just to be thorough, we should scout out that end of the building.”“I can’t believe anyone would venture anywhere in this building,” Chris said with distaste.“If I was a dirty cop, I’d sure as hell find someplace nicer than this to conduct my business.I still think your caller is sending you on a wild goose chase.”Marlie shot him a look of exasperation; she was rapidly tiring of this argument.“I think I’ve been doing this long enough to know the difference between a crank call and a serious one, Chris.This guy was for real.”“Then why doesn’t he just go to Internal Affairs? Why all this subterfuge?”Marlie rolled her eyes, her irritation showing.“You know how tight the brotherhood can be.Turn in a fellow cop and you’re a pariah on the force.Doesn’t matter what the dirty cop was doing.It’s an unwritten rule.Breaking the code of silence can be fatal.Next thing you know, the whistleblower ends up dead, supposedly the victim of a bust gone bad.Tipping us to the situation was a smart move.We investigate, the dirty cops are exposed on the evening news for all to see, and the whistleblower remains anonymous and protected.”“And you get the story that will give you the career boost you’ve always wanted, right?” Chris said with a strong hint of sarcasm.“And what’s wrong with that?” Marlie asked, whipping her hand around so that the flashlight shone directly into his eyes.He reached out and gently pushed it aside.“I just think you go too far sometimes,” he said, his words carefully measured.“You take too many risks.”“I didn’t get where I am today by playing it safe, Chris.”“There’s a lot of space between playing it safe and acting recklessly.Even Granger thinks you go too far, and he’s always eager to sniff out a good story.I’ll bet he doesn’t know we’re out here, does he?”Marlie’s expression gave him all the answer he needed.Chris sighed heavily and shook his head.“He’s going to be pissed,” he said.“He’ll get over it.He always does, once I deliver the goods.”Chris studied her face a moment.“What about you? Will you get over it?”“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marlie asked tiredly.“It means there’s more to life than this career, or a slot on a national network, Marlie.Hell, this blind ambition of yours has already cost you your marriage.How much more are you willing to lose while you search for the perfect story?”Marlie’s eyes narrowed in anger [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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