Decker dug into his Delmonico steak as Lulu picked at her salmon. For a few minutes neither of them said anything, comfortable as they were simply enjoying their food, savoring each mouthful at the end of a long, grueling day.
Then, without warning, he said, “Who were you talking to on your phone by the kitchen?”
“Checking on something,” she answered, without hesitation.
“On what?”
She took another bite of her fish. “You know that cyborg device on the assassin’s arm?”
“What about it?”
“It was made of a UV-curable photopolymer.”
“And?” Decker asked. “So what?”
“I just thought that was interesting,” she replied. “I was hoping to get a fix on the manufacturer, hoping it might lead us back to whoever was behind the assassin.”
“And.”
“No luck.”
For the rest of the meal, they said very little. It was well past nine when they decided to head back to Jamaica.
There was an awkward moment when Lulu went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. The door was cracked open a little and although he tried not to look, he found himself checking her out as she took off her clothes. First, her sweater and slacks. Next, her blouse and her bra. Although she was facing the mirror and he couldn’t see very much through the crack between the frame and the door, he finally caught sight of Lulu’s tattoo, or at least a small part of it, for it seemed to extend down half of her front and across her entire back, from the nape of her neck to her buttocks. The design appeared to be floral, a series of pink and gold lotus blossoms, lily pads, and a tangle of brilliant green vines. Then, the door suddenly closed.
When she returned, she was wearing an extra-large T-shirt for some New Orleans oyster company.
Decker went to wash up next, brushing his teeth with his new toothbrush, which felt wonderful. When he was finished, he slipped back into the bedroom wearing nothing but his T-shirt and underwear.
Lulu didn’t even look up. She was too busy plugging her phone into her… boot!
“What the hell are you doing?” Decker asked.
“Charging my iPhone.”
“With your shoe?”
“I’ve got reverse electrowetting Doc Martins,” she said, leaning over. “You know. They build up a kinetic charge during the day as I use them. That way, I always have a source of power to charge my iPhone or my Alienware laptop. If I still had it, that is. Which I don’t.” She scowled over her shoulder at him. Then she suddenly screamed and leapt up on the bed.
“What? What is it?”
“Spider,” she said, pointing down at the floor.
Decker came around the four-poster bed and saw what she was pointing at. Sure enough, it was a relatively small common house spider. He picked up her other boot. “Honestly, you’re almost as bad as my wife was,” he said, slamming the boot on the floor. When he picked it up, all that remained was a wet spot. “She hated spiders and crickets and cockroaches.”
Lulu shuddered under the covers.
Decker laughed. He went around to the other side of the bed by the bathroom and slipped in beside her. “I hope your Doc Martins don’t snore.”
Lulu rolled over and turned out the light.
It took Decker almost forty minutes to fall asleep. He spent the first fifteen just listening to Lulu breathing. She seemed to fall asleep right away, without any trouble, despite the incident with the spider. Decker, on the other hand, hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in what seemed like years. When he did finally fall off, he dreamt about El Aqrab.
He saw himself as his prisoner once again, tied to a ticking nuclear bomb, in the belly of that active volcano on La Palma. He saw Emily as they shared a picnic together in a field of pink tulips. No, they were gold. Then, he sensed someone else enter the scene. A man. A stranger. He was too far away to see clearly. Decker reached down to lift Emily to her feet but she slipped from his grasp. Their fingers just separated and she began to slide down an endless abyss, like Eurydice vanishing back to the Underworld. He tried desperately but couldn’t quite reach her.
Next, he was running as fast as he could. He was being chased by the stranger. He ran and he ran through the fields, faster and faster, until his heart felt like it would leap from his breast, and yet he never seemed to gain any ground. It was as if he were running in place. His chest was on fire. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he ascended to the top of a hill. He stopped and stared down at the valley below him. It was filled with hundreds… no, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of figures approaching, lumbering toward him like zombies.
Decker awoke in a puddle of sweat. Lulu was lying right next to him, oblivious, still sleeping. In the amber streetlight which streamed in through the window, she looked like a young girl as she slept, despite her eyebrow and nose studs and dyed hair. Or, maybe, because of them. She looked, oddly, at peace.
Decker slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her, and crept quietly to the bathroom. He locked the door, leaned both hands on the sink, and glanced at the mirror.
He looked terrible. His face was puffy and raw. And then, without warning, he began to weep uncontrollably.
At first, it was only a tear or two. But it just wouldn’t stop. No matter how hard he tried to control it, he just couldn’t put a stop to his chest-heaving sobs, the uncontrollable shaking.
Decker found himself down on the floor, his arms wrapped around the toilet. It was so cold, so blessedly cold, it made his flushed face feel cooler. He cried and he cried in this manner for five minutes straight… until he saw Emily standing behind him.
“Look at you,” she said, shaking her head. “Pull your together, John. You have things to do.”
Decker released himself from the toilet bowl. He sat up on the floor, turned completely around. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that—”
“I don’t want to hear it. You’ve always got some damned excuse or another, don’t you? Listen to me, John. Are you listening to me?”
“I’m listening.”
“This is important. H2O2 was involved with Anonymous.”
“What?” Decker asked. “Who?”
Just then came a knock on the door. It was Lulu.
“Hey,” Lulu said. “Hey, are you okay? Can I get you something? John? John, answer me. Please open the door.”
Decker grabbed the rim of the sink and hauled himself to his feet. He dried his eyes with a hand towel. “Just a minute,” he said, examining his face in the mirror. He looked like absolute shit. Then he took a deep breath and opened the door.
Lulu was standing just outside, her arms crossed, trying to look nonchalant. “Are you alright?” she repeated. “I thought I heard voices. You look… Are you sure you’re okay?”
Decker slipped past her and went back to the bed. “Don’t worry,” he said, as he summoned a smile. He sat down and swung his feet up, covering himself up with the comforter. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”
CHAPTER 30
I ran through the streets, through backyards and cul-de-sacs, past garages and porches, down side yards, under clotheslines, over fences and flowerbeds, chased on by my relentless assailant.
Police sirens wailed in the distance. I could hear them caterwauling even now over the dull thump of my heart.