Read Online Brood XIX by Michael McBride - Free Book Online Page B

at him from the
body of the report.
    Distal femoral osteoblastic
activity .
    Metastasis .
    End-stage .
    Osteosarcoma .
    The body they had found belonged to Chelsea
Matthews. She'd been six years-old, the same as Emma. Warren had
been unable to save her. She had died of her cancer, leaving behind
grief-stricken parents unable to rationalize the loss of their only
child. Matthews had been Emma's dentist. She would have trusted him
well enough to wander off with him. She would have seen him as
safe, as a friend.
    Did the Matthewses blame Warren for their
daughter's death?
    He had been more than happy to take care
of the details on his end. After all, he and his wife had a
daughter Emma's age who they schooled at home .
    Was it possible they had somehow snapped and
figured that if they couldn't have their child, then neither could
the man who let theirs die?
    If that was the case then...
    Trey jumped up from the desk and sprinted out
of the office.
    The Jeep's engine roared and its tires
screamed on the asphalt as he sped away from town toward the remote
area where the Matthewses lived.
    * * *

    Vanessa pried at the bars over the window,
but they didn't budge in the slightest. The windows on the main
floor were out of her reach. That meant she either had to use the
front or the back door, and surely both were locked. She hadn't
thought to bring her cell phone and she was unarmed. She didn't
even have a set of keys to hold between her knuckles, but now that
she had found Emma, she couldn't bear to leave her here a second
longer.
    She had come for her daughter, and she wasn't
leaving without her.
    Vanessa walked right around to the front
porch and ascended the short slate staircase. She stood an arm's
length from the door. The cicadas scurried away from the door.
Heart pounding, she raised her fist and knocked.
    The sound echoed hollowly away from her.
    She knocked again, harder this time, and
listened for approaching footsteps.
    Nothing.
    She pounded again and again.
    The cicadas broke the silence. Their song was
deafening. It grew faster, more insistent, raising the hackles on
the backs of her arms.
    She didn't hear the deadbolt disengage. The
door opened inward and a shadow stepped into view. She caught the
glint of moonlight from a long blade in time to throw herself
backward.
    The knife sliced through the air in front of
her.
    She hit the porch on her back and tumbled
down the stairs, twisting her arm underneath her and hitting her
head.
    A black silhouette stood above her, knife at
its side. The face was a wash of shadows, framed by a riot of
tousled hair.
    The cicada song died.
    In the silence, she heard the man
breathing.
    He stepped down onto the first step.
    And then the next.
    Vanessa screamed and tried to scrabble
away.
    The insects took flight at once and the night
filled with the buzzing sound of wings.
    One moment, the man stood three steps above
her, and the next he was swallowed by a dark cloud of cicadas. The
blade flashed through the swarm. She heard him scream as he swung
the knife. His exertions only served to topple him off-balance. He
missed the next stair down and fell toward her.
    She rolled out of the way just in time.
    There was a loud crack and the screaming
stopped.
    The insects swarmed around her for several
moments before finally lifting, leaving behind a crumpled heap of
humanity. The man's legs trailed him up the staircase. His arms
were pinned under his body. The tip of the knife stood from the
center of his back in an expanding amoeba of blood. His head was
cocked to the side at a severe angle. Fluid trickled from the
corners of his mouth and his eyes stared blankly through her. She
recognized him immediately.
    Carlton Matthews.
    Her daughter's dentist.
    She struggled to her feet, swayed until she
found her balance, and mounted the staircase.
    The front door was wide open.
    There was only darkness beyond.
    Cradling her injured arm to her chest, she
crossed the threshold and stepped into the silent