Danny stopped in the middle of the street. It could not be…
What was Herb Whitby doing there in the outdoor café?
"The damn fool" he said to himself.
He did not waste time. If Whitby did not care, he did. He went and dropped his hand on Whitby's shoulder. "Do you have a death wish?"
Whitby turn around, angry. "What business is it of yours?'
"Do you want Amos to go after you? Do you have any idea what he can do to you?"
"I am not afraid."
"You should be. You helped kill Doc Lawson, and he will not forgive that."
"And you want to save me?
"I do not want to have to wash the floor after he is done with you. I know what he can do if provoked. I have seen it. I do not care to see it again. If you value your life, be somewhere else. Right now!"
-0-
"Frank, it is time we talked." Wendy said to Frank, crouched behind the grille "I have made excuses for you, and believed you, and stood by you. But you are never going to quit the drug business."
"I am! I am done with it. I am cooperating with the D.A., helping him."
"And when you get out, you will be straight of a month or two, and then you will come back to it… Almost getting yourself killed did not stop you. Almost getting me killed did not. If it had not been for Amos..."
"I know what I did. I am sorry. Really sorry."
"You were then. But then went back. You like the money too much."
"I know. I have been thinking…. And I dreamed of it…. Your father was chasing me, blaming me for your death… I tried to get away but I could not. Then there was this door that I tried to open, but it would not… Until I said to myself "NO MORE DRUGS" … And the door opened…."
Wendy got up, angry. "So now you are manipulating me using my own dream…. And of course, when the door opened, Danny Watts was there."
"It was Dinah Grady"
"You are telling me my own dream…Making me think that you have changed. But you are now lying."
"I did not know of your dream… You never told me…
"We are done, Frank, done!"
-0-
Danny heard the rattling, calling him…It was coming from that corner…that corner where he had buried Clark's body…
He did not want to think about Rupert… they had once been friends… and he had seen what Amos had done…
The rattling continued stronger and stronger. Then it stopped.
Rupert Clark was before him, all bloody, bones torn apart.
"Look what your friend Amos did to me… It is your fault, Danny. You let Amos out of his prison and he killed me."
"No! It was your fault… you should not have come for me."
"Your fault… He did this to me, and it is your fault."
Danny ran pursued by Clark's dismembered body. He could not outrun him, no matter how fast he ran.
Until he reached the door… the door that would make him free…
-0-
Danny woke up screaming.