Exorcist Road Read Online Free PDF Page B

the depthless evil carved in that formerly innocent countenance, I knew beyond a doubt that Casey Hartman was possessed.
    His eyebrows were hideously arched, the forehead above them deeply wrinkled. The eyes had gone a blazing scarlet hue, the skin a pallid white. But it was the leer stretching his lips that did it, the soulless, mocking grin that erased all semblance of humanity from that horrid face.
    In a voice nothing like a child’s, the thing on the bed said, “Mary Ellen Alspaugh howled like a mongrel when I took a hacksaw to her tits.”
    “You fucking monster,” Bittner said and made straight for Casey.
    “Stop it,” Danny hissed, somehow managing to lunge between Bittner and Casey before Bittner could tear the boy’s limbs off.
    Though I knew I would do little good against the behemoth struggling to attack the boy, I joined Danny in holding him back. We succeeded for only a few seconds. First, Bittner cast me aside as though I were a yapping puppy. I hit the floor and heard a peculiar squelching sound. A downward glance showed me I’d landed where Casey Hartman had savaged his fists on the wood floor earlier that evening; there was a sticky patina of blood all around where I lay. Scrambling to my feet and slipping several times, I caught a peripheral glance of Danny and Bittner, who were still grappling. But Bittner was too big, too inexorable. He pivoted and heaved Danny toward Ron, who I noted with disdain hadn’t lifted a finger to protect his son from the berserk cop. Bittner stalked toward Casey’s bedside and encountered the boy’s last line of defense:
    Father Sutherland.
    Far from seeming intimidated by the approaching hulk, Sutherland merely remained where he’d been, perhaps daring Bittner to physically assault a member of the clergy. For a moment it seemed Bittner would do just that. He advanced to within a foot of Sutherland, his broad jaw looming toward the older man like the prow of some haunted barge.
    But Sutherland’s gambit seemed to work. Bittner neither laid hands on the priest nor made a grab for Casey.
    “Get out of my way, Father,” Bittner said in a dangerously low voice.
    “You brought me here tonight, Officer Bittner. I’ve sworn to uphold certain beliefs, just as you and Officer Hartman have. I need to examine this child, and I cannot have you threatening him while I do so.”
    Bittner didn’t move, but his eyes flicked irresolutely from Sutherland to the boy.
    Sutherland continued, “He is restrained. He poses no danger to you nor anyone else. Whether or not he has anything to do with the murders you so commendably want to solve is an issue we’ll address later tonight. For now, Officer Bittner, I implore you—let us do our jobs.”
    At this last he nodded at me, and I made sure to reflect in my bearing and expression the same aura of dignity that Sutherland projected. I fought an urge to wipe my hands on my robe. The blood on my fingers felt slimy.
    Evidently satisfied by my look, Sutherland said, “You shall respond to my reading, Father Crowder. Are you ready?”
    “Wait,” Ron said. “You’re not going ahead with it, are you?”
    Looking impatient but demonstrating what I considered admirable restraint, Sutherland said, “How Casey responds to the reading will be one of the indicators of his true condition. Now, please , Mr. Hartman.”
    “You wanna hear how Ashley Panagopoulos’s head sounded while I bashed it on the floor of her bedroom?” the croaking voice from the bed asked.
    “Motherfucker,” Bittner said, his lips drawn back.
    The Casey-thing leered at Bittner. “Or would you rather know what your daughter’s squeals will sound like when I sodomize her with a carving knife?”
    Bittner pounced.
    I couldn’t believe how easily he bulled through us, swatting us aside like rotten saplings in his eagerness to get his hands on Casey.
    “I could just take you in,” he said, grasping the boy by the T-shirt, “but I’m not gonna let you off that