Purgatory Chasm: A Mystery (38 page)

Fred was flying, truly flying, ten yards ahead.

He’d lost his balance, pinwheeled along for a few strides, and taken one last leap. I saw him in full swan-dive position—back arched, arms out, wrists and fingers curled like an orchestra conductor’s.

Then he augured five yards straight down to a rock the size of a grand piano.

The sound when he hit was sharp and dull at the same time, like helicopter rotors.

Somebody said, “Oh my God.”

Somebody else said, “Nine-one-one.
Nine-one-one!
”

I slowed, came to a clumsy, boot-slapping halt.

I made my way to Fred, holding my bloody side, sucking air.

He was absolutely still.

I rolled him over.

Blood burbled where his right eye had been. His nose was smashed. His forehead was concave.

He was awake. He was aware.

I got an arm around his neck. “It’s okay, Fred,” I said. “They’re calling nine-one-one.”

He tried to say something. A tooth blew from his mouth and hung by a flesh-thread.

“Don’t try to talk,” I said.

But he shook his head. Stubborn. “Payfoo,” he said.

Painful? “I bet it is.”

More head shaking.
“Payfoo,”
he said, and pantomimed writing something.

Then I understood.

I used my left hand to pull my wallet. Opened it, plucked the slip he’d given me at the intersection that day. The one that said
IOU
.

“Paid in full, Pop.” I let him see me crumple the paper and flip it over my shoulder.

My father smiled and closed his eyes and died.

I ignored the little knot of people who told me not to move him. I lifted Fast Freddy Sax, feeling my side rip wide open. Before I began the climb I took a breath, steadied myself. I had a long way to go. Couldn’t afford to slip.

I carried my father up the hill.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS
.

An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

PURGATORY CHASM
. Copyright © 2011 by Steve Ulfelder. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.minotaurbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ulfelder, Steve.

Purgatory chasm : a mystery / Steve Ulfelder.—1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Thomas Dunne book.”

ISBN 978-0-312-67292-8

  1.  Automobile mechanics—Fiction.   2.  Murder—Investigation—Fiction.   3.  Alcoholics—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3621.L435P87 2011

813'.6—dc22

2011001265

First Edition: May 2011

eISBN 978-1-4299-2426-9

First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: May 2011