Free Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure by Brent Nichols Page A

you, even when it meant
putting his neck on the line. I tried to do the same for him."
    He lapsed into
silence. Colleen stared at him, uncertain what to say, disturbed to
realize that he was just as haunted as she was.
    "He wasn't
always like that. Like the man you met. All intense and wound up.
He used to be a baker, can you believe it?"
    Colleen tried
to imagine Smith with his arms dusty with flour, and couldn't do
it.
    "He lived in
Calgary. Had a nice little house there. I think he still owns it.
Owned it, that is. I saw it once. It was a nice place. I always
hoped someday he'd be able to go back, take up that life he had
before."
    "What
happened?"
    There was a
long moment of silence, and she thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then he sighed and said, "The cult happened. His wife worked at a
museum in Calgary. I don't even know what she found out, if
anything. But the cult thought she knew something she shouldn't.
They killed four people that night, and burned the museum to the
ground. After that, well, Dirk's been with us."
    He fell silent
again. Then he spoke again, his voice so soft she didn't think he
meant for her to hear. "Until last night. I'm sorry, pal. I never
meant to let you down."
    "It's not your
fault," Colleen said. The words sounded hollow to her ears. "If
it's anyone's fault it's mine. I insisted we go after Jane."
    "No, we had to
save the lady," he said. "You were right to remind us of that. If
we hadn't, it would have been harder to live with than, than
this."
    Colleen closed
her eyes and saw, for the thousandth time, the face of the woman on
the running board an instant before the gun went off. Now, there
was someone who could be blamed. Someone who had taken up a gun and
set out to do kidnapping, torture, and murder.
    "It's not my
fault," Colleen whispered. "You made it happen. You took Jane, you
hurt her, you came after us. You made me do it." It sounded like an
excuse, and her conscience wasn't satisfied.
    She spent a
rotten morning staring at the ceiling, dozing off, having
nightmares, and coming awake with a start. Finally she and Carter
admitted they weren't going to get any more sleep and set out for
downtown.
    She made him
stand guard in her room while she bathed and changed. Then they
went to the Empress Hotel and she sat in his room while he cleaned
up. Smith's room was next door. All of his stuff would be there.
The last time she'd been in this room, he'd been sitting in the
chair she now occupied. The thought made her melancholy. Despite
her exhaustion she was only too happy to get up and leave when
Carter stepped out of the bathroom.
    They stopped in
the lobby, where Carter explained that Mr. Smith in 306 had been
suddenly called away on business, but a Mr. Richard Dalglish would
be taking the room. A Miss Margaret Nelson would be requiring a
room as well. Carter paid for the rooms, then left with Colleen for
the hospital.
    They found a
policeman in the corridor outside of Parker's room, and Chris
nodding in a chair inside. He stood, yawning and stretching, as
Carter told him about the hotel room. He left, still yawning, and
Carter sank into the chair.
    Parker was
sleeping. His face was pale, but he didn't look too bad. Colleen
tucked the blankets around him and went out into the hall.
    Another police
officer was on guard a little way down the hall. He nodded as she
stepped past him into Jane's room.
    Jane had
sticking plaster on four different places on her face. Her bruises
had darkened, and her lips and cheek had puffed up. Overall she
looked much worse, but she smiled when she saw Colleen.
    Colleen looked
around the room. "Where's Maggie?"
    "She left when
the policeman outside made it clear he wasn't going anywhere. It's
all right. There's police all over the place. I'm perfectly safe
for now." Her face went somber. "After that, well, I'm going to be
leaving Victoria. Leaving Canada completely, in fact."
    "I heard," said
Colleen.
    Jane shrugged.
"The only thing really keeping me here was