The Darkness - Jason Pinter [85]
Then Paulina Cole walked away.
"I think that's the closest she's ever come to a real
thank-you," Jack said. "I had a wager with myself, fiftyfifty odds that she slapped me before she left."
"You might have just saved her daughter's life," I said.
"I think that's at least enough to avoid a slap."
"Eh, women like Paulina don't always need a reason.
Especially when they feel like they've lost some sense of
power or authority, they get it back by lashing out. It's a
gimmick for sure. In a way, I respect her more for that.
She's so confident, she didn't even feel the need to slap me."
"If you're disappointed, I can take her place. I have a
mean right hook."
"I think I'll pass," Jack said, "though at least you
wouldn't have nails. Those things leave scars."
As we watched Paulina leave, my cell phone began to
vibrate. Jack heard it, too, said, "Your lady friend?"
The Darkness
243
I checked the ID, recognized it as Curt Sheffield.
"Hey, Curt," I said. "How's my favorite boy in blue?"
"Been better," he said.
"Dunkin' decided to discontinue their donuts?"
"That's a terrible stereotype perpetuated by the media,
just like you."
"My bad, man. What's up?"
"It's been a hell of a day," he said. "I'll give you the
heads-up because I didn't know about Paulina's story
until too late...but it's true."
"What's true?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to beat
a little faster. It was a strange sensation. The excitement
of another thread unspooling mixed with the dread that
came with Curt's apprehension.
"Homicide down in Chelsea," Curt said. "Gruesome
stuff. I just left the scene, and...it's bad, man. Real bad."
"What happened?"
Jack's composure from talking to Paulina was gone,
as he watched the conversation, trying to decipher my
reaction. I tried to keep a straight face, but when Curt told
me the details I felt my whole body drain of blood.
"We got the call about an hour ago," he said. "A tenant
on the floor above. A girl comes home to find her husband
passed out on the floor. He'd been laid off a month ago,
and took every spare cent they had and spent it on drugs.
When she found out, she told him she was going to leave
him, then divorce him and take all their savings. And
that's when he took a knife from the kitchen and sliced
her head nearly clean off."
"That's horrible," I said. "Who'd you hear this from?"
"The killer himself," Curt said. "The guy confessed to
everything, right before his brain nearly short-circuited.
He'd spent every cent they had around the house on what
244
Jason Pinter
he said was some new drug, something called Darkness
he said. Said it was the best high he'd ever had, and he
wasn't going to give that up for anything, including his
bitch of a wife."
"So Paulina's story was true," I said.
"We've had half a dozen calls today, from robbery to
assault to this, and all of them have one thing in common.
All the perpetrators ingested these little black rocks."
"That'll be all over the news tomorrow," I said. "Not
just the Dispatch, but we'll have to cover it, too."
"Best publicity you can get," Curt said. "But man, I
hope Paulina's wrong about one thing, because if this drug
blows up we're gonna have major problems in this city."
"What do you mean?"
"Hell, the NYPD's lost a thousand jobs since last year.
The narcotics division is strapped thin as it is, and our
men and women on the street haven't caught a wink of
this thing. If the Darkness is being sold, it's not being sold
through traditional dealers."
I heard a siren in the distance, and I lost my focus.
Then I heard Curt's voice again.
"Henry, Henry, you there, man?"
"Yeah, sorry, Curt. Just thinking about all of this."
"Yeah, us, too. But listen, Henry, the main reason I
called, I wanted to tell you about one more thing."
"What, this stuff isn't enough? I got enough material
here for a week's worth of stories."
"Yeah, well, try this on for size and tell me if you
want to drop it. I think I found your man. The blond guy
who kidnapped Paulina."
"No shit," I said. "Who is he?"
"I haven't told