In the Heart of the Fire by Dean Koontz EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: Dean Koontz
- Genre: Fiction Short Stories, Technothrillers, Supernatural Thrillers
- Publish Date: 12 November 2019
- Size: 2 MB
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Status: Avail for Download
- Price: Free
The sky is the blue of a birthing blanket, the day newborn and filled with
the light of innocence, when the air brakes of the bus whistle softly,
waking him. He has arrived in Worstead, Texas, looking for trouble, on this
Friday in June.
The bus is bound for Houston, and this is merely a quick hop-on, hopoff stop en route.
He steps into the aisle. Rather than consign it to the luggage
compartment, he has kept his small white suitcase with him.
Carrying the bag, he exits the bus. He is the only passenger
disembarking in Worstead, population 11,546.
A young Hispanic couple wait to board. The man is thin and intense.
She’s pregnant, radiant. Maybe they are victims of the world, or maybe they
are the parents of its savior. Life is a weave of infinite possibilities, though
some are more likely than others.
The treeless, dusty street is lined with two- and three-story buildings
with flat, parapeted roofs. Constructed of local limestone or rust-colored
sand-struck bricks, many date back to the days of gunslingers and
stagecoaches that were ripe for robbery.
The morning is warm. Later it will be stifling.
He checks his iPhone and discovers one text message. As always, it is
from Ace of Diamonds, who manages his nomadic life. He doesn’t know
who Ace might be, whether male or female.
This message is just a reminder: ALEX HURKOS, BLUE RIBBON MOTOR
INN.
The Blue Ribbon Inn is visible from the bus station, and he sets out for
it on foot.
His name isn’t Hurkos. He doesn’t remember his name.
Indeed, he doesn’t remember anything of his past prior to this itinerant
life he’s been leading for two years. He knows—a better word is believes—
that his amnesia is a medical matter beyond his control, but he senses that it’s
also somehow a choice he has made.
He currently calls himself Ben Shepherd. A magazine left on the bus by
a previous passenger featured an article about a police dog—a German
shepherd—that lost one leg in a violent encounter but persevered through
rehab and didn’t retire. The dog’s name is Ben.
At the Blue Ribbon Inn, no ID is required because Ace of Diamonds
prepaid and made certain other arrangements with the management.
Nameless has no credit cards. He rarely carries identification of any kind, not
even in false names.
The front desk clerk, one Roxanne Cortez, wishes him a pleasant stay
and winks at him. He returns the wink.
The room is large, clean, and comfortable. He doesn’t wear gloves and
won’t bother to wipe down any surfaces prior to leaving, for he has no
fingerprints. They were removed with the application of a series of lightly
applied acids and CO2
laser treatments. This he remembers, for the memory
affords him peace of mind.
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