Endless Night (28 page)

“It’s possible,” Dad admitted.

“Oh, man.”

“Where would he go in L.A.?” Sharon asked.

“To our house.”

“Do you think so?”

“I know so. He hated the whole idea of leaving.” Jody groaned at the thought of Andy arriving at the house, only to find it deserted. What would he do? “I’m beginning to wish we’d stayed home,” she said.

“You’d be going crazy at home,” Dad said. “This way, we’re doing something.”

“I know, but ... Is anyone still watching the house?”

Dad shook his head. “I doubt it. Ryan was awfully eager to free up the manpower.”

“But Andy won’t know where we are, or anything.”

“He’ll be all right,” Sharon said. “If he’s the sort of kid who can make it back to your place in the middle of the night, I bet he’ll find a way to get inside. Then he’ll just settle down and enjoy himself.”

“I don’t know. I sure hope so.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Jody woke up. She’d heard something.

Though her eyes were open, the room was very dark.

For a moment, she thought she was sleeping over at Evelyn’s house. But she wasn’t in her sleeping bag on the floor of Evelyn’s room; she was in a real bed.

Then she remembered what had happened at Evelyn’s.

She remembered everything, and finally knew where she was.

Indio. This is that motel—the Traveler’s Roost across from the Texaco.

But what had woken her up?

She lay on her back, gazing at the dark ceiling, and listened. She heard the loud hum of the air conditioning unit. Nothing else, though. Dad usually snored, which could drive her crazy when they stayed at motels, but tonight he was quiet.

Thank goodness for that, anyway, she thought.

She was sure there’d been a noise, though. Something loud enough to ruin her sleep.

Maybe a door had slammed or someone had yelled or ...

Probably nothing important.

Last night, Evelyn heard breaking glass. And I didn’t think it was anything important.

The sheet covering Jody suddenly seemed heavy and hot. She flung it aside. Better. She would feel even better without her nightshirt, but she couldn’t take it off with Dad sharing the room. At least her arms and legs felt cool, now.

Whatever I heard, she told herself, it probably wasn’t breaking glass.

We’re safe here. Nobody followed us all the way to Indio. Nobody knows where we are.

She folded her hands behind her head. The short hair back there was damp with sweat. She shut her eyes.

And jerked quick and hard as someone pounded the door.

Three sharp raps.

Maybe it’s not our door!

It is our door.

“Dad!” she gasped. “Dad! Somebody’s at the door!”

He didn’t answer.

She swung her feet to the floor. Ignoring the pains, she stumbled through the darkness toward the other bed.

Maybe it’s Sharon, she thought.

What if it’s not?

She bent over the bed and reached for her father. Her hands found the rumpled blanket and sheet on an expanse of flat mattress.

He’s gone?

Staggering sideways, she searched for the lamp fixtures on the wall between the two beds. Her fingers bumped a cool, metallic shade. Moments later, she found the switch. She jabbed it inward. Sudden light rammed the darkness away. She groaned and squinted.

Dad’s bed was empty, just as she’d thought.

Is he in the bathroom?

“Jody?” The voice came from outside. It was hardly more than a whisper.

She sighed. What a relief! “Jeez, Dad.” Hobbling toward the door, she realized that he must’ve gone outside and forgotten to take his key.

Dumb.

He almost never goofed up.

Jody found herself smiling.

He’ll never hear the end of this.

“Neat play, Dad,” she said, and swung the door wide open.

And knew she had made a mistake. A big mistake like walking outside with the platter of burgers, completely forgetting Dad’s warning to stay in the house.

She should’ve
made sure
it was him before opening the door.

A mistake like this can get me killed, she thought.

Not this time, though, thank God.

It wasn’t her father on the other side of the door, but it wasn’t a killer, either.

“Andy!”

She gasped and leaned out and grabbed him by both his arms and pulled him inside fast. Then she leaned out again. She checked both ways. The motel’s long balcony looked deserted.

“Nobody saw me,” he said. “I was extra careful.”

She shut the door and locked it. She faced him. He was grinning.

“You creep!” she blurted.

“Me?”

Then she grabbed him and hugged him.

Hugged him hard, mashing him against her body with all its scrapes and cuts and bruises. It hurt her, hugging him this hard. She knew it must also be hurting him; he’d been banged up awfully bad too, last night.

Good, she thought. I hope it hurts a lot.

But he didn’t protest. He kept his face pushed gently against the side of her neck, and moved his hands slowly up and down her back. He didn’t try to get funny, though. He never let his hands stray lower than her waist.

“You little creep,” Jody whispered.

“Aren’t you glad to see me?”

“I oughta ...” She almost said, “kill you,” but stopped herself in time. “Man, you’re gonna be in big trouble.”

“So what?”

She eased herself away from Andy and held him at arm’s length. His face looked flushed and dirty. The red shirt that she’d given to him was unbuttoned and open. His chest and belly were shiny with sweat. Jody could see where he had lost a couple of his bandages. The exposed wounds looked raw, but not bloody.

The blue denim shorts hung low on Andy’s hips, lower than his tan line, and Jody blushed as she remembered that he wasn’t wearing undershorts.

His right knee was still wrapped with an Ace bandage, and he still wore the white socks and Keds that she had given to him. The brand new laces on the Keds were now almost as dirty as the shoes themselves.

“You’re a mess,” Jody said.

“You should’ve thought of that
before
you hugged me.”

She glanced down at herself. Her nightshirt had been spotless white. Now, its front was grimy. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’ve gotta figure out what to do with you before Dad gets back. I don’t know where he ...”

“He went to room 238.”

Sharon’s room. “When?”

“A few minutes before I started knocking. Boy, you sure are hard to wake up.”

“He went to
Sharon’s
room?”

Andy shrugged. “I don’t know. A big gal, and I mean
big.
Stacked, you know?”

“Cut it out.”

“Her hair’s even shorter than yours. Short like a guy’s hair. But man, what a babe!”

“It was Sharon. She’s in 238. She’s another cop. She drove over with us. She’s really nice. Dad went to her
room?”

“Yeah. That’s what I said.”

“And she let him in?”

“Sure did.”

“Did she look like she was expecting him?”

“How would I know?”

“What was she wearing?”

“Some kind of robe. It was blue and shiny. Pretty short, too. ”

“My God.”

Andy raised one side of his upper lip. “Is this good or bad?”

“It’s good,” she said. “It’s great. I think.”

“You think he went over there to boink her?”

“Jeez, Andy!” She gave his shoulder a rough jab, and he laughed.

“He’s probably boinking her right now.”

Jody tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. “You’ve got such a dirty mind. Now, quit it or I’ll throw you out of here. I’d forgotten what a pain in the butt you can be.”

“Did you miss me?”

“We thought you might’ve gotten kidnaped or something. Or even murdered. How could you do a thing like that?”

“I hate that guy. Is there something around here to drink?”

“Just water.”

“That’s okay.” He hurried past Jody, limping slightly—not much, though. Apparently, his knee had improved during the past few hours.

Jody followed him past the ends of the beds, toward the long counter adjacent to the bathroom door. When he flicked a switch, bright fluorescent lights came on above the counter.

In the mirror, he looked very small and young and filthy and vulnerable. Like some sort of street urchin out of a Dickens novel. Jody looked so much more adult and ... she’d known that her white nightshirt was too small. But when she’d stood in front of the mirror earlier to brush her teeth and wash, she’d been wearing her robe over it. Now, she was without the robe. The mirror reflection showed her nightshirt to be horribly short and tight: so short that she could see the bandage Sharon had used to cover the bullet scratch high on her thigh; so tight that it grasped every mound and hollow. She could even see the darker color of her skin where her nipples pushed against the fabric.

Oh, wonderful, she thought. Andy’s been getting a real eyeful.

Her face flushed to a deep shade of red.

As Andy bent over the sink, she hurried to her travel bag. Her robe was draped over the top, where she’d tossed it before getting into bed. She put it on and tied its sash.

“You’re gonna get hot in that,” Andy said.

“I’ll manage, thanks.” She stepped into her moccasins.

“Shoot.”

Hearing him say the word, Jody was tempted to tell him about the sniper who’d murdered those two people (and a baby, a baby that hadn’t even been bom yet) and then shot at her.

But Andy would want to see the wound.

She could tell him about it later, maybe. Sometime when she was dressed.

She watched him drink some more from the faucet. For a while, he remained bent over the sink, cupping water into his mouth.

At last, he shut off the faucet and dried his mouth on a towel. “Anything to eat around here?”

Jody shook her head. “You can’t be that hungry. You ate the same time I did.”

“It takes up a lot of energy, being a fugitive.”

“Boy, Andy. They’ve got cops out looking for you.”

“You’re telling me.”

“You must’ve lost
all
your marbles.” She sat down on the edge of her father’s abandoned bed. “I mean, running away from your uncle.”

He grinned. “It was easy.”

“Jeez.”

He dropped onto the edge of the bed across from her. “Wanta know how I did it?”

“I know. You pretended like you had to take a leak. When you got to the john, you ran off.”

“Oh, yeah? Where’d I run to?”

“I don’t know, but ...”

“That’s because 1 didn’t run.” He leaned forward, planting his elbows on his thighs, and gave her a sly grin. “
I climbed.”

“What?”

“I climbed up onto the roof of the gas station.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I thought I’d just run away, you know? Run off and hide, just to get good and far away from that turkey, then figure out some way of getting back to L.A. after he gave up looking for me. Maybe hitch a ride or buy a bus ticket, you know? But what happened, I saw how the door of the john was propped open and it looked like it was just begging for me to climb it.”

“You climbed the door?”

“Sure. What you’ve gotta do, you hang on to its edge and get your knees on the handles. Then you stand on the handles and grab the top and boost yourself up. Once you’re on top of the door, you can reach the roof easy.”

Jody shook her head, amazed. “You were on the roof the whole time?”

“Yep.”

“And nobody ever saw you?”

“It’s got like a wall around the top. A couple of feet high, you know? So as long as I stayed low, nobody could spot me from the ground.”

“Wow.”

“I really thought I’d had it when all those cops started showing up. Man, I never figured ol’ Willy would call the
cops.”

“He didn’t, exactly,” Jody explained. “He called Dad. But Dad was gone, so I talked to him. Then I put Sharon on the phone. Willy wanted to just leave, but ...”

‘That’s what I
was hoping
he’d do. I thought he’d be glad to have me out of his hair, and he’d just boogie on home, you know?”

“He sure wanted to,” Jody said, “but Sharon made him stay. Then she was the one who got the local police into it. They were all looking for you. The Indio police, the Highway Patrol, Willy,
us
...”

“I know, I know. And
nobody
got around to looking on the roof. Not even you.”

“Did you see me?”

“Sure. What happened, I heard your dad talking to Wee Willy. That was after I’d been up there a
long
time. Hours. I couldn’t make out what anyone was saying, but your dad has a really different sort of voice and I knew it was him. So I peeked down and saw both of you. You were almost right under me. Man, I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

“Why the heck didn’t you just come down?”

“Yeah, sure, and have Willy take me away.”

“He left right after we got there.”

“He did?”

“Weren’t you watching?”

“No! Somebody might’ve looked up and seen me. All I did was take a little peek down every once in a while. I never even saw that woman ... Sharon?”

“She was with us the whole time.”

“Couldn’t have been.”

“Well, she wandered around some. And went to check the bathroom and stuff.”

“I never saw her till your dad went to her room.”

“So what did you do, follow us over here to the motel?”

“Yeah. I heard a car start and thought it might be yours, so I took a chance and looked down and saw it drive off. I thought I’d really blown it, you know? Because Willy’d taken off by then—I couldn’t see his car anywhere. And all the cops were gone, too. I almost wanted to jump down and run after you...”

“Good thing you didn’t. Probably would’ve crippled yourself.”

“Yeah. I’ve done enough jumping. But anyway, I kept my eyes on your car and watched where it went. I couldn’t believe it when you guys pulled into this motel right across the street. It was like a miracle.”

“We did it on purpose in case you might be hiding somewhere nearby and see us. But jeez, I never thought you’d show up. You were right there the whole time? Man! Right under our noses.”