The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter [122]
Daryl ran both hands tensely over his mouth as if wiping something off. ‘I guess the other way we can do this is a painful one, right?’
‘For you . . . yes.’
Daryl took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘OK, but I don’t know names or nothing.’
‘I don’t need names.’
‘You know, I’ve been down on my luck for a little while now.’ Daryl’s voice was low and sad. ‘It’s not every day I have a meal that hasn’t been someone else’s leftovers. If I could manage to have a shower every day I would, but it’s not that easy when you’re really broke. Most of the time I have to sleep rough, so any place would do, but a sheltered place if I can find one, is much better.’
Jerome listened.
‘A few months ago I was high, drunk and I ended up in some abandoned old factory or something like that in Gardena.’
‘Gardena? That’s way out of town,’ Jerome interrupted.
‘Well, I move around a lot, one of the perks of being homeless.’ Daryl forced a cheesy smile. ‘Towards the back of the main building you can still find part of a roof covering a room, so that’s where I crashed. I was woken up by the sound of a car approaching. I have no idea what time it was, late I guess, it was still dark. Anyway, out of curiosity I peeked through a hole in the wall to see what was going on.’
‘What did you see?’
‘Four guys dragging a tied-up woman out of a big van.’
‘Where did they take her?’
‘Around the back, down a little dirt track. I got curious, so I followed them. I never knew there was an underground area to that building, but there is. A heavy iron door hidden behind some high grass at the end of the dirt track. I waited about five minutes before following them down.’
‘And?’
‘The place was filthy, full of rats and shit and it smelled like a sewer.’
Coming from Daryl, Jerome thought that was priceless.
‘They have this whole thing set up down there, man. Lights and cameras and things like that. The room is all fucked up, full of holes in the walls, it was easy to watch everything without being noticed.’
‘What were they doing?’
‘Well, I thought they were filming a porn movie, man. They tied this girl to a chair. She was kicking and screaming, putting up a real good fight, but they kept on slapping her about. Two of the guys were working the camera and the other two went to work on the girl. But it wasn’t a porn film, man.’ Daryl’s voice weakened. ‘After they were done beating and fucking her they sliced her man. They carved her up like a Halloween pumpkin, and that was no special effect either.’ His gaze was distant as if he could still see the images of that night. ‘They were all laughing afterwards, man, like as if they had just finished a game of b-ball. It was sick.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I panicked, but I knew that if I made any noise, I’d be next. So while they were cleaning up their mess I sneaked back up and hid in the old factory until daybreak. I never went back there again, man.’
‘But can you remember where it is?’
‘Hell yeah,’ he said, nodding slowly.
‘C’mon, let’s go.’ Jerome got a twenty-dollar bill from his wallet and left it on the table.
‘Let’s go where?’
‘To Gardena. To this old factory.’
‘Wow, man, you never said anything about going back there.’
‘I’m saying it now.’
‘I don’t know about that man. I told you what I know, that was the deal. That’s worth the bags right?’
‘If you want the bags, you’ve gotta take me there.’
‘That ain’t fair, man, that wasn’t the deal.’
‘I’m changing the deal,’ Jerome said firmly.
Daryl knew he had no choice. He needed a hit – badly. ‘OK, man, but if those motherfuckers are there, I’m staying the fuck in the car.’
‘I just wanna see where it is.’
Fifty-Five
Darkness was absolute and wakening had come very slowly. The residue effect from the drug still lingered in his aching body. A throbbing invaded his head, reaching down into his neck and shoulder blades and even the smallest of movements felt like agony. He was trying to come to terms with what had happened and where he was, but his memory was still fuzzy.
Confusion reigned for several