Chapter 45
The drive was quick, less than ten minutes. William stepped out of the car before Bryan came to a stop. He started toward the renovated factory, a block away. Parked near it was the same green truck he had seen at the first fight and at the house fires, Jared Smith's truck.
"William! Wait!" He heard Bryan running behind him. The second car pulled up even with them as Bryan pulled him to a stop. The two detectives joined them. William frowned at them. He understood that this was their job, but they would still slow him down.
He ignored them, kept walking until he reached the side door. He looked through the inside of the building. Directly ahead, at the far end of the factory was Jared Smith.
He pointed at the door. "Jared Smith is in there. He's waiting with a rifle. He'll kill you all."
The three detectives stared at him. "How do you know that?" the largest one, a black man, asked. He stared at William. This must be the lieutenant who thought Bryan was crazy. William wondered what he must think about an escaped mental patient.
"It's the white supremacist, right? Their leader?" the second detective said.
William and Bryan nodded together. "The one behind all the small fires." Bryan said. "That's his truck over there. I've seen it."
"Then we're all going in," the lieutenant said. His face was set, determined.
"He's waiting for you. There's a stretch of open space before the stairs. He's waiting to pick you off there."
"Us, but not you?" the lieutenant pulled out his handgun.
Bryan replied before William could. "He'd have a pretty hard time hitting William."
The lieutenant stared at William. "How do you know where he is?"
After a moment, William turned away. He didn't need the voices to warn him what he should not tell this man. The Hunter moved in and out of the factory building, The Advisor studied the two new detectives while The Caretaker was still wrapped around William, dulling the pain. He looked down at his leg. She wasn't healing it, and didn't seem to be able to.
The maintenance man could affect things on some of the smallest levels. Why didn't the voices reach down further, into the smaller levels of his body and heal his wounds?
The Advisor stepped away from the detectives. She is upstairs. He pointed and a window took shape in the fog. He saw Jessica, locked inside a room. She needs to see.
"I'm going in," William told the others. "He'll shoot you if you follow me up the stairs. I can't protect you all."
William stepped forward, was stopped by a large hand on his shoulder. He saw it was the lieutenant. "You say the man responsible for the fires is in there. How do you know?"
Bryan stepped forward. "Let's just call it psychic, okay? But if he says Smith's in there with a gun, then he is." He turned to William. "He's aiming at the stairs?"
William nodded back.
"Where's Jessica?" Bryan asked him.
"Upstairs. The maintenance man, Harold, is there too."
Bryan frowned. "Can you stay out of his sight, get her?"
William had no idea. He looked at the lieutenant's handgun. One of the detectives might have a chance of killing Harold, shooting him, if they could surprise him. But they'd never make it up the stairs. He had to get to her. The voices wanted it. Bryan wanted it. It didn't matter if William would survive or not. "I think I can."
Bryan watched him a moment. Could he tell what William was thinking? Then he nodded at the other detectives. "William goes for the stairs, we go the opposite direction, circle around. Okay?"
The other detectives nodded and Bryan pulled out his gun. William stared at him, looked at The Advisor, who pointed inside the building, to the right of the door. "There's a stack of wood inside the door, to that side. Should give you some concealment," William said.
He opened the door and ran in.
*
(Author’s note: What does everyone think? Running into a building after a firestarter and a guy with a really powerful rifle…good idea or bad idea? Let me hear from you…and keep reading to find out what happens!)