Darkness Falls Read Online Free

like industrial junk. The gigantic solar panel was identifiable, as was the high-tech windmill, but the Honda hybrid parked next to a slightly crooked barn was so covered in unfathomable gadgets that Beamon recognized it only because one of his neighbors drove one. Most dominant, though, was a large above-ground pool surrounded by scaffolding. And standing on top of that scaffolding was a man dressed only in a pair of camouflage shorts, holding something that looked like a giant wooden spoon.
    Beamon pulled the car up to a boulder and got out, shading his eyes and squinting at the man staring down at him through mirrored goggles. His shaggy hair was even blonder than in his photos, and his bare torso had a tan muscularity that suggested professional landscaper more than scientist.
    "Are you Dr. Neal?"
    "Who the hell are you?"
    "My name's Mark Beamon. I work with Homeland Security."
    An irritated smirk crossed Erin's face before he turned and went back to stirring his pool.
    "I don't suppose you'd want to come down and talk?"
    Erin just kept stirring, forcing Beamon to grab hold of the rickety two-by-four ladder that climbed the side of the scaffold.
    By the time he got to the top, he had sweated through his thin golf shirt, but the rate of his breathing had hardly increased at all. As annoying as Carrie's vegetarianism and after-dinner power walks were, he had to admit that a few years ago, walking from his car to the Taco Bell had left him huffing. He was getting so used to feeling good, it was hard to remember his life before her.
    Erin pretended to ignore him, continuing to swirl the green sludge that had taken over his pool.
    "I'm no expert, but I'll bet a little chlorine would fix that right up."
    Erin pulled his goggles up onto his head to appraise Beamon for a moment, obviously unimpressed. "It's an experiment." "Bacteria, right? That's your business." "Hobby," he corrected.
    "Hobby. So what do these bacteria clean up?"
    "Am I under arrest?"
    "No."
    "Then I don't have to answer your questions."
    Beamon glanced up at the sky, futilely hoping the sun was about to dip behind a cloud. "You know . . ." he started, but didn't finish.
    "What?"
    "Nothing. Never mind."
    "No," Erin said. "What were you going to say?"
    "Just that if I was as rich and good-looking as you, I'd be less pissed off."
    Erin spun in his direction and jabbed a finger violently in the air with his free hand. "Who the fuck do you think you are? You drive in here and start asking questions and judging me. You don't know the first thing about me. So why don't you just go tap someone's phone or something?"
    Beamon nodded slowly but didn't move; instead, he examined the elaborate grid laid over the pool and tried to discern whether the goop varied from one compartment to another.
    Erin moved around the scaffold with his spoon, but as the silence between them stretched out, he became visibly uncomfortable. "I'm experimenting with bio-solar. These bacteria generate electricity from the sun and other nutrients. It's sort of a cross between algae and an electric eel."
    Beamon crouched and examined the contents of the pool more closely, but it still just looked like sludge to him. "So I'll be able to throw some of this in a puddle outside my house and run my TV on it someday?"
    "Nah. I don't think it'll ever work. Interesting, though."
    "If you say so. You know, I'm burning up out here. Any chance we could go inside and talk for a few minutes?"
    Erin eyed him suspiciously, but finally just shrugged, jumped off the scaffold, and stomped through the dust to his porch. Beamon considered the drop for a moment and then took the ladder.
    Inside, the un-air-conditioned house was more seashell than teepee. Messy enough to be just on the border of saying something unflattering about Erin's psyche, with furniture that was half homemade and half mail order. Much more interesting was the artwork. As near as Beamon could tell, it consisted completely of photographs of the same