Free After Dark by James Leck, Yasemine Uçar, Marie Bartholomew, Danielle Mulhall Page B

kitchen.
    â€œHold on,” he said, suddenly stopping. “The guy out front … the one who helped me up … that was … that was Johnny Harker! Oh my God! That was Johnny Harker, wasn’t it? Damn it, Charlie, your last name isn’t Autumn, it’s Harker! Am I right? I’m right, right?”
    â€œThat’s what it says on my birth certificate,” I said.
    Upstairs, Jake and his men were busy hammering away at something.
    â€œThat means your father is Richard Harker,” he said, his face lighting up.
    â€œNothing gets by you, Miles.”
    â€œThat’s incredible! I’m a huge fan! Is he coming here? Would he sign a copy of his books for me? When do you think he’ll get here? He’s coming, right?”
    â€œIf he ever gets here, and there’s probably no chance of that happening, I’ll make sure he signs all your books. Now, can we move along and check on Hal?”
    â€œSure, sure,” he said, nodding and starting toward the kitchen. “You don’t suppose Johnny would give me an autograph, do you?”
    â€œI’ll get the whole family to give you autographs when we’re done,” I said, heading through the kitchen and across to the pantry door.
    â€œRichard Harker! This is incredible,” Miles mumbled. “But wait — why does your mom go by Autumn? She kept her last name, is that it? My mom changed hers back when Dad died …”
    â€œAnother mystery to add to your files,” I said, and knocked. “Hello? Uncle Hal?”
    I stopped and listened, but there was no answer. “Uncle Hal! Uncle Hal!” I cried and then turned to Miles. “He’s kind of deaf.”
    â€œI observed that last night.”
    I pounded on the door. Still no answer.
    â€œI guess Lilith was right. Looks like he’s not back.”
    Miles reached by me, turned the doorknob and pushed the door open slowly.
    A part of me, a large part of me, was expecting to find Hal sitting in the middle of a room wallpapered with tinfoil, aiming his shotgun at us. Instead, I was staring into a pantry absolutely stuffed with canned food. There were cans of peas, corn, peaches, pears, beans, chili, Spam and ham. There was tuna, salmon, sardines, shrimp, tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, ravioli, spaghetti, coconut milk, powdered milk, powdered eggs and even cans of whole chickens. Cans of everything you could imagine were jammed onto shelves on either side of the room, which was basically just a long, narrow closet. And at the end of it was another door.
    â€œI’d say he prefers canned food to fresh or frozen,” I said.
    â€œYeah, it looks like he’s stocking up,” Miles said.
    â€œFor what?” I asked, stepping over to the door at the back.
    â€œNuclear war, super flu, alien invasion …”
    â€œAre you sure you want to disturb a man who’s stocking up for an alien invasion?” I asked, holding my hand up to the door.
    â€œYou didn’t see what I saw last night. Something dangerous is happening in Rolling Hills, and we have to find out if he’s been in —” He stopped suddenly and glanced at the floor, then looked back up. “Well, I need to know if he’s all right.”
    â€œUncle Hal?” I called, knocking. “Uncle Hal, it’s me, Charlie. Are you in there?”
    I knocked again, but there was no answer.
    I tried the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, too. Hal didn’t seem like the kind of man to leave his door unlocked, and I immediately got nervous. I had a vision of Hal crouching inside, surrounded by an army of antique dolls. But the door opened into an almost completely empty room.
    â€œLooks like he moved out,” I said.
    Miles squeezed past me and went inside. It wasn’t a big room. There was a cot in the corner, with a mattress still on it, but no sheets. There was a nightstand beside the cot.