Edgewise (20 page)

“Don't threaten me, Mr. Shooks.”

“Oh, I'm not. If anything, I'm on your side. I'm only an eighth Native American, remember. The rest of me is pure paleface.”

Lily ended the call and tried Bennie again.

A few minutes before midnight, when Lily had almost given up trying, Bennie at last picked up. “Lil . . . hi! I'm sorry, I got all of your messages, but I've been running here, there, and every darn where. Is anything wrong?”

“I can't tell you the full story, Bennie—not yet, anyhow. But this is urgent. I need the title to that piece of land at Mystery Lake, and I need it first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Uh-
huh,
” said Bennie.

“I can come around to the office and pick it up, if you like.”

Bennie didn't reply. Behind him, Lily could hear people laughing and chattering, and piano music. It sounded as if he were in a bar someplace.

“Bennie? Did you hear what I said?”

“Sure, Lil, I heard you. But I didn't think you needed it any more.”

“I know. But the situation's changed. The tracker wants the land and he's not going to give me any peace until he gets it.”

“I'm sorry, Lil. I don't think it's going to be possible.”

“But . . . hold on a minute. You said that it was all arranged. You said that Philip Kraussman was happy to donate it.”

“It wasn't as simple as that.”

“What do you mean? I thought he was going to use it to show people what a great local hero he is.”

“That was the idea, Lil. But to be honest with you there were complications.”

A woman's voice screamed out, “Bennie! Bennie! Come over here and show Lizzie your Deputy Dawg impression!”

“What complications, Bennie?” Lily asked him, tersely.

“Well, the truth is, Lil . . . when you told me that you'd hired yourself a Native American tracker . . .”

“What are you trying to say to me? You didn't
believe
me?”

“Of course I believed you. But I didn't believe that this tracker of yours could actually find Jeff for you.”

“But he did, Bennie. And now he wants what I promised him. He wants that piece of land, and if I don't give it to him . . . I don't know what he's going to do. He's killed my dog, Bennie! He's killed Sergeant! He's torn him to pieces and burned him on the fire!”

“What? He's done
what
? You need to call the cops, Lil. You need to have him arrested!”

“I have called them, but they'll never be able to find him. Listen to me, Bennie. I need that land title, as soon as you can get it for me. I'm afraid he's going to come after Tasha and Sammy next.”

“Lil, all I can advise you to do is call the cops. They'll find the son-of-a-bitch. Like, how many Native American trackers can there be in the Twin Cities area?”

“I have to have that land title, Bennie. That's the only way I can ever be sure.”

“Bennie!” screamed the woman. “Bennie! Come over here, will you?”

Bennie said, “I'm sorry, Lil, you know how much you mean to me. I'm so fond of you, I really am. I guess I just wanted to impress you. How else can a guy like me hope to get close to a woman like you? You're beautiful, Lil. I'd do anything.”

Lily turned around. Agnes was standing in the kitchen doorway, with a questioning look on her face. She came and stood a little way away, waiting for Lily to finish on the phone.

Lily said, “There
is
no land title, is there, Bennie?”

“Not exactly.”

“Did you even raise the subject with Philip Kraussman? Did you even
ask
him?”

“Not exactly, no. You know what Philip Kraussman's like. He wouldn't donate a bottle of sour milk to a starving baby.”

Lily was so angry that she couldn't speak. She had to breathe deeply to keep herself under control.

“Lil?” asked Bennie. “Lil, are you still there, Lil?”

“Let me tell you something, Bennie: if anything happens to Tasha and Sammy, or to me, then you'll know that it's your fault.”

“Lil, I can get on to Philip Kraussman first thing tomorrow morning! I can try to swing it!”

“Oh, you think? Jesus, Bennie—how could I have been so gullible?”

“Lil, listen to me—please—”

“It's too late, Bennie. I'm too upset.”

Lily switched him off.

Agnes came up to her and took hold of both of her hands. “What's happened, Lily?”

“I can't tell you. But I know who killed Sergeant, and I know why he killed him.”

“You know who it was? My God, you need to tell the police!”

“I can't tell them, either. They just won't believe me.”

“Lily, this is crazy!”

“I know it is. But I've gotten myself involved in something I shouldn't have even thought about.”

“Lily, please—
tell
me!”

“I will, Agnes, I promise. But I have to get Tasha and Sammy away from here, tomorrow morning, as early as possible.”

“What? Where are you going to go?”

“Anyplace at all. Someplace where this person can't find us. Europe.”

“
Europe?
What are you
thinking
about?”

“Agnes, this person doesn't let anybody get away from him, ever. Wherever they go, he can find them. Please don't ask me any more.”

“Lily, this is madness! You're shocked, you're upset, that's all!”

“Yes, I am. But I know that we have to get as far away from here as we possibly can. Can I use your computer? I need to book a flight.”

The alarm buzzed at seven
A.M
. Lily opened her eyes. At first she couldn't remember where she was—but then, next to the alarm clock, she saw the familiar silver-framed photograph of herself and Agnes when they were at school.

She switched on the bedside lamp. In the photograph, Agnes was dressed as Father Louis Hennepin, the Franciscan adventurer who had been the first European to set foot in Minneapolis. Lily wore a blanket and a beaded headband, to play the part of Father Hennepin's Dakota guide.

Both girls were laughing, although she couldn't remember what they were laughing at. In the background stood the huge oak tree that they used to climb up, so that they could sit astride one of the branches and read
Archie
comics.

She looked more closely. She had never noticed before that there was a figure standing beside the oak tree, partly sunlit and partly in shadow. It looked like a tall, thin man, yet its face was unusually long, almost like a dog or a deer, and its arms were bent.

You're allowing your imagination to play tricks on you again
, she thought, and when she looked again she saw that the figure was nothing more than another tree, and a section of fence, and a bend in the sunlit path.

She climbed out of bed and took down the floral-print bathrobe that was hanging on the back of the bedroom door. Downstairs, Tasha and Sammy were already sitting around the kitchen table, eating Cheerios, while little William was making a happy mess with a bowl of apricot purée. Agnes said, “Hi, Lily. Sleep well?”

“Yes—surprisingly. Like a log. How about you, kids?”

“I had a dream about Sergeant,” said Sammy. “But it was a nice dream. He was running and fetching sticks.”

“Coffee?” asked Agnes. “How about some eggs?”

“No eggs, thanks. Maybe some toast.”

“Ned had to go into the office, but he'll be back before nine. That's unless you've changed your mind.”

“Changed your mind about what, Mommy?” asked Tasha.

Lily sat down, and Agnes gave her a large cup of black coffee. “I was thinking that we ought to take a vacation,” she said. “We deserve one, after all the horrible things that have happened.”

“But I want to go back to school,” said Tasha. “I want to see all my friends again.”

“
I
don't want to go back to school,” Sammy put in. “I don't want to go back to school
ever
.”

Lily held Tasha's hand. “You will go back to school, Tasha, I promise. But we need to go away for a while. What happened to Daddy—what happened to Sergeant—I can't explain it yet, but they're kind of connected. Somebody wants to hurt us and we have to make sure that they don't know where we are.”

“Somebody wants to hurt us? Who?”

“It's really better that you don't know.”

“Why would
anybody
want to hurt us?” asked Sammy. “We haven't done anything.”

“Well, you remember the poem about the Pied Piper? How he got rid of all the rats, but once they were gone, the people in Hamelin wouldn't pay him?”

“I don't understand,” said Tasha.

“This is the same, in a way. I said that I would pay somebody for something that they did for me, but I can't. So that's why he wants to hurt us.”

“Can't you
borrow
the money?”

“It's not money he wants,” said Lily. “Please—don't ask me any more, sweetheart, not at the moment. I'm going to try to find a way to pay him, but I need some time.”

American Airlines flight 1437 was scheduled to leave Minneapolis at twelve thirty-five that afternoon, heading for Paris, France, with a stopover in Chicago.

“What are we going to do about clothes?” asked Tasha. “We only have this one overnight bag.”

“I'll buy you more clothes when we get to Paris. New jeans, new sweaters—everything.”

“Really?” Tasha was beginning to look more cheerful now.

“Where's Paris?” Sammy wanted to know.

Tasha said, “It's the capital of France, stupid.”

“Where's France?”

“It's a country where they speak French all the time and eat very long bread and snails.”

“Urgh! Snails are even worse than pineapple! I don't want to go
there!
”

Ned arrived. He bustled into the house in his padded windbreaker, chafing his hands together. “Think we're in for another snowstorm. Sooner we get you to MNP, the better. We can swing by your place and collect your passports on the way.”

They left the house. While Agnes and Ned helped the children into their Explorer, Lily crossed over the road and went up to the two police officers sitting in a radio car. They were drinking coffee and they had the engine running to keep themselves warm. The driver put down his window and said, “Everything
okay,
ma'am? You going out for a while?”

“We're going to do some shopping at Calhoun Square, if you want to take some time out. We'll be back around four o'clock this afternoon.”

“You want us to come with you?”

“I don't think that's going to be necessary, thanks. We'll be walking around the mall the whole time.”

“All the same, I'd better check.”

The officer called headquarters, and then said, “Okay. That's fine. But call us immediately if there's any sign of trouble, or you notice anybody acting suspicious. See you back here at four.”

Lily came back and climbed into the backseat of Agnes and Ned's Explorer. “I hope the police don't give you a hard time, when you come back without us.”

“I doubt it, if we tell them that you've flown to France. It'll save them from sitting out in the cold all night, freezing their butts off.”

They drove to Lily's house first. Lily peeled the bright-yellow crime-scene tape away from the front door and opened it up. Quickly, she crossed into the living room and took their passports out of her bureau. The house was chilly and dark, and there was still a lingering stench of burned dog hair. She wondered if they would ever be able to come back to live here again.

As they drove south on I-35W toward the airport, the sun disappeared behind a dark bank of orange-tinted snow cloud, and the day began to grow gloomier and gloomier.

“You'll call us when you get to Chicago?” asked Agnes.

“Of course.
And
when we get to Paris.”

“I can't believe we're really going to France,” said Tasha. “It's like a dream.”

“I'm still not going to eat snails,” said Sammy, emphatically.

Little William, sitting in his car seat between Sammy and Tasha, said, “Nails! Nails!”

As they neared the intersection with I-62, a fierce snow shower blew across the highway, and Ned had to switch on his windshield wipers. “What did I tell you? I sure hope your flight isn't delayed.”

The snow began to fall even more thickly, and Lily could hear the wind gusting underneath the Explorer with a hollow sound like a huge slide-whistle.

“Whoooo!”
said little William, with his eyes wide.

Lily laughed. But at that moment, Ned shouted,
“Jesus!”
and jammed on the Explorer's brakes. As the SUV slewed to one side, Lily could see that there was a figure standing in the middle of the highway, only twenty yards in front of them. It looked like a man, but it was taller than a man, and it juddered and jumped like an image from an old black-and-white movie. Lily glimpsed a stretched-open mouth, and sightless black eyes, and arms that looked jointed in all the wrong ways, but then it turned away and disappeared altogether.

The Explorer's tires slithered on the road surface as Ned tried to bring it under control. Tasha was screaming and Agnes was twisting around in her seat, trying to make sure that little William was firmly buckled up. They spun round almost 360 degrees before Ned managed to bring the Explorer to a stop. They were overtaken by a huge truck, its headlights ablaze and its klaxon blaring like a passing train.

“Did you see that?” said Ned. “Did you see that guy? Right in the middle of the goddamn highway like he had a goddamn death wish or something.”

Lily tugged at the shoulder of his windbreaker. “Ned, let's get out of here, right now.”

Ned looked around, increasingly frantic. “Did I hit him? I didn't feel anything, did you? I don't think I hit him. Where the hell is he? He was standing right in the middle of the goddamn highway.”