[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
what it is, son. I'm gonna smell the sky and walk bare-
foot on the grass. I'm gonna think on women I've
been with and women I never got the chance with. I
will remember my glory days. It's the best I can do,
given the endless night that's about to be upon us.
Your dad at his office?"
Gus shrugged, rising up, tucking in his shirttail,
making sure the buttons on his 501's were all secure.
"He should be. Carlos quit on Monday — moved up
north, got sick of it here. And you know how Dad is.
Won't stop working."
"Well, then," Fletcher McBride said, "think I'll take
me a walk over to Main Street and see if our sheriffs
got wind of the eve of destruction."
"Won't he be pleased." Gus laughed, slapping
Fletcher on the back as they both headed out the
front door.
8:25 P.M.
Gus's father, Sheriff Kermit Stone, looked like a man
who had seen a ghost. But, of course, it hadn't been a
ghost he'd seen, exactly, but one he'd heard. Just
before the phones went down, he'd received a call
and listened as a voice said to him, "I don't want trou-
ble. You know what I mean."
And Kermit, who was forty-seven and holding, and
who felt that he had lived two lives — the first one,
113
douglas clegg
where he'd made all the mistakes, and then the sec-
ond one, when he found new and different mistakes
to make — now wished he'd never been born.
8:25 P.M.
On the western edge of town a woman waited
patiently for the arrival of her children.
114
chapter 17
8:25 P.M.
The telephone rang in the motel room, and Kate
Stewart almost jumped.
Don't answer it.
Hope opened the bathroom door. She stared at
her mother, with worry furrowing her brow. Then she
shrugged.
The telephone was a rotary, and rang like the bell
on a bicycle.
After seven rings the phone was silent.
"Got to be a wrong number," Kate said. She rubbed
Vaseline Intensive Care lotion into her hands. Her
skin had been drying, from air and stress, the entire
trip. She looked at her hands, rubbing in the lotion,
not wanting to show her daughter how afraid she was
of something as simple as a ringing telephone.
Hope went back into the bathroom and shut the
door. Kate heard the fan click on inside it.
She stood up, thinking about the phone, and then
heard the flush of the toilet. Water ran in the sink.
115
douglas clegg
Who could possibly know we're here?
Aloud, Kate said, "That's silly. Nobody could possi-
bly know."
Kate went and sat down in the stiff pine chair
beside the telephone stand. She picked the receiver
up and dialed the motel manager's office. A young
woman answered. Kate asked about the call that had
just come through.
"That was me, Mrs. Gardner," the woman said,
using the alias Kate had given when she'd signed in at
the front desk, "just to tell you that the phones are
back up. They were only down for an hour. The wind
takes 'em out about four times a year, but it's usually
just a branch, maybe, or something on the wires in
Perdito. You can use the phone if you want, but we
keep your deposit if you don't pay up in the morning."
Kate hung the phone up. She wanted to laugh,
but the panic had seized her as it always did. She
didn't want to reach in her purse for the Xanax, but
it seemed so easy and convenient. She resisted, for
Hope's sake. What's the use of having an anesthetized
mother? What good would I be if Robert or the police
found us?
She heard the sound of running water in the bath-
room sink. She thought she heard Hope say something
through the door. For a moment she felt the panic
descend again. What if someone's in there waiting for her?
What if someone has her? The police — Robert's using the
police or a private detective to hunt for Hope. What if she's —
116
dark of the eye
But Hope repeated herself, shouting this time.
"They use real glass!"
"Baby?"
"They use real glass," Hope swung the bathroom
door open like she was going to take it off its hinges.
She came out, carrying a small fat glass filled with tap
water and held it up to the light. Particles of rust and
air bubbles still swirled in it. "I thought all the motels
used plastic."
"Only motels built after World War Two. I don't
think this place has been occupied since the Gold
Rush," Kate said, leaning over and brushing dust off
the green-and-gold bedspread. "But, hell, ten bucks a
night plus a five dollar phone deposit. Pre-recession
prices. Pre-depression prices."
Hope said, "The windows don't lock. You notice
that? I tried them. The only way to open them is from
outside. At least the bathroom windows."
"Yeah." Kate nodded. "The front ones, too. I'm
sure this kind of town doesn't have much crime."
Hope volunteered, "We can use some electrical
tape from the car and tape it all up. Or something.
Man, am I hungry."
"You had a sandwich. Didn't you? And Fritos?"
"All the chili cheese Fritos. The entire bag. Almost
four hours ago, though. I'm starving."
"Well, let me take a bath, and then we'll go down
the block to that burger place. Sound good?"
Hope nodded. "You gonna call Ben?"
117
douglas clegg
Kate glanced at the phone. Then, as if shaking off
resistance, she picked it up and dialed a series of
numbers. On the other end, it rang and rang. Kate
made faces at Hope, who made them back, and she
expected Ben's machine to pick up any second.
"Hi, this is Ben Farrell. Please start confessing at
the beep."
She waited through a long pause for the beep, and
when it came it was long and ear-aching. When it was
done, she said, "Ben, it's Kate. Are you there? Oh,
come on, pick up, pick up."
She heard laughter on the line, and Ben said,
"Gotcha."
"That was you? Oh, Ben, I wish you'd grow up."
"Please start hitching at the beep." Ben chuckled.
"So, you're still alive, are you?"
"Stop it. I don't think that's funny at all. You don't
know Robert. He's capable of a lot. Especially if he
thinks I'm running to you with something that's
going to be on the front page of a major newspaper.
He's probably worried about future grant money."
"Aren't you two coming tonight?"
"We've
stopped . . . somewhere.
We're
both
exhausted. I think we can be at your place by ten
tomorrow morning. I'll call when we get to the city."
"What, are you in San Jose or something?"
Kate held her breath. She knew it bothered him to
be kept in the dark about their route and schedule. A
journalist in the dark is not a happy camper.
118
dark of the eye
Ben muttered under his breath. Sighed. "All right,
Katy, I'll play by your rules. You sure nobody's follow-
ing you?"
Kate couldn't bring herself to tell him about the
man in the yellow truck. She hadn't seen him since
they'd turned off to Empire, anyway. Ben would think
she was crazy if she told him. So she lied. "Uh-huh."
"Well, I think someone's shadowing me. Me and
my shadow. I don't know if it's police or Robert, but
this guy is some kind of detective. Showed up when
Robert started calling, though."
Kate held her breath for several seconds, trying to
swallow her panic. She had known Robert would fig-
ure all of it out — going to Ben's, to the press. "Who
knows, with Robert. Who knows? It could be a detec- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]