Praying for Sleep (38 page)

"I'm hurt. I had an accident. Can you help me?"

It was a man's voice.

She hesitated, walked to the front door, hesitated again, then opened it as far as the chain allowed. The big fellow was bent over, clutching his arm. He seemed like a working man.

"Who are you?"

"I was driving by and my car, she rolled over and over. Oh, I'm hurt. Please let me in."

No way on God's green earth, thank you very much. "I'll call an ambulance, you wait right there."

The woman closed the door and deadbolted it then went to the table that held the rotary-dial phone. She picked it up. She banged the button down several times and the silence continued said, "Oh, dear."

It was then that she realized the sound she'd heard a few moments before was coming from the place where the phone line ran into the house. This thought stayed with only a moment though because Michael Hrubek had grown tired of waiting outside and kicked open the door. Huge and wet, he walked into the living room and said, "Nice try. But your phone, it doesn't work. I could've told you that."

Standing beneath a cluster of thick pine trees, which offered some shelter from the streaming rain, Owen asked how Trenton Heck happened to find the Cadillac.

"I followed his track to Cloverton. That's where I picked up your prints and tire tread. I saw you headed west. Then I saw the Jeep parked up there and figured it might belong to you. My dog picked up Hrubek's scent right away beside the Caddie."

"Did the detective have any more news?"

"How's that?"

"I don't recall his name." Owen patted his pockets for the card he had been given. "The detective in Cloverton. At the house where he killed that woman?"

"What?" Heck blurted.

"You didn't know? Didn't you stop at the house?"

"I didn't see a house. I hightailed it west as soon as I saw your prints."

To a troubled Trenton Heck, Owen explained about the killing, the terrible butchery in Cloverton. He then told him about the antique cars stowed in a barn. "I figured he'd try to lead us off track with that motorcycle. He drove it south a few hundred yards and dumped it in a marsh somewhere to fool everybody, I'd guess. Then he took the Cadillac and came here. That man is too damn smart." Heck asked, "What's your interest in all this?"

Owen stooped down and relied his boots, which were muddy and scuffed but looked as expensive as Heck had guessed they'd be. The tall man stood and said, "Was my friend he killed at Indian Leap. And my wife saw him do it."

Heck nodded, thinking that this put a whole new spin on the evening. "Tell you what, let me get my dog. He stays and keeps quiet when he's told but mostly it addles him."

Heck walked off into the woods, glancing at the signposts of bushes and trees for direction.

"You're quiet when you move," Owen said, impressed. "You hunt?"

"A bit." Heck chuckled.

They found Emil sitting nervously, shifting weight from paw to paw. He calmed as soon as he saw his master.

Owen asked, "Purebred blood?"

"Edouard Montague of Longstreet the Third. He's as pure as they come."

"Quite a name."

"That's what he came with but it wouldn't do of course, not around here. So I call him Emil and he answers to it. If he ever mates a pure bitch I'll have to put his full name on the papers but till then it's our secret."

Walking back to the clearing beside Heck, Owen asked, "How'd you follow the scent if he was on a bicycle?"

"That's nothing for Emil. Hell, he's gone through a foot of snow in a blizzard. So you think maybe he's after your wife?"

"I don't really know. But it's too dangerous to leave it to the hands of cops who don't know what they're doing."

This rankled Heck and he said, "You got your state troopers on the case, you know."

"Well, a lot of mistakes've been made, I should tell you." Owen glanced at Heck's pistol. "You mentioned a bounty. You're a professional tracker?"

"I hire out my dog, yep."

"How much's the reward?"

Hot-faced, eyes fixed on the dark forest, Heck said, "Ten thousand dollars." He spoke emphatically, as if making clear to Owen that even if he was just a hired hand he wasn't coming cheap.

"Well then," Owen said, "let's go catch this psycho and make you some money. What do you say?"

"Yessir."

Heck roused Emil with Hrubek's scent and off they went through the woods. The track was easy to follow now, with abundant ground scent in the moist forest. The dog's excitement and the uncanny atmosphere of the woods at night urged them forward in a kind of dazed ecstasy, and they could do nothing but give in to this lust. They crashed through the brush. Hrubek could've heard them coming from a hundred yards away but there was nothing to be done about it. They couldn't have both stealth and speed and they chose the latter.

Michael watched her carefully, irritated that she was crying so much. It made him very anxious. The blonde woman didn't speak. All the points of her face — her nose and chin and cheekbones — were red from the silent tears. She quivered and shredded a paper napkin between her fingers while Michael paced. "I had to take down your telephone. Stop that crying. The line's sure to be tapped anyway."

"What," she sobbed, "are you going to do to me?"

He walked through the living room, his huge muddy feet pounding on the boards. "This is a nice place. Stop crying. I like your eyes. You don't have masks on them. Where did you get it? The house, I'm speaking of."

She glanced at the small cap on his head. "What are you —?" He repeated his question sharply and she stammered, "My mama died and she left it to me. I've got a sister. It's half hers." As if he intended to steal it, she added, "We own it free and clear."

Michael lifted the Irish cap by the brim, courteously tipping it to her. He rubbed his hand over his smooth head. In the bright light a residue of the blue ink was still visible. He saw her staring at the cap as he replaced it. He smiled. "Fashionable, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry?"

He frowned. "My hat. Fashionable. Isn't it?"

"Yes," she exclaimed. "Very. Extremely."

"My car rolled over and over and over. She was a good car while she lasted." He walked closer and examined her body. He thought it was strange that although she was a woman she didn't frighten him. Maybe because she was so frail. He could lift her with one hand and could snap her neck as easily as he had the raccoon's earlier in the evening. What's that smell? Oh, it's woman. The smell of woman. This brought back an indistinct and troubling memory. He felt darkness around him, claustrophobia, fear. Rocks and water. Bad people. What was it? His anxiety notched up a few degrees. He also found he had a fierce erection. He sat down so that she wouldn't notice.

The wind slammed against the windows and the sound of the rain grew louder. The clatter of muskets, he thought. Lead balls cracking apart a thousand heads... He covered his ears at this unnerving sound. After a moment he realized that she was staring at him.

"People are after me," he said.

"You're a convict" she whispered. "You escaped from the prison over in Hamlin?"

"Nice try. Don't expect to get anything out of me. You know too much as it is."

She shivered as he leaned forward and stroked her fine hair. "That's nice," he muttered. "And you're not wearing a fucking hat. Good... Good."

"Don't hurt me please. I'll give you money. Anything..."

"Give me a penny."

"I have some savings. About three thousand but it's is the bank. You could meet me there at nine tomorrow. You're welcome to —"

Michael roared, "A penny!"

She dug frantically into her purse. He looked over her shoulder. "You don't have a microphone in there? A panic button or anything?"

She looked mystified then whispered, "No. I'm getting you the penny like you asked."

Guilty, Michael said, "Well, you can't be too careful."

He held out his massive hands and she dropped the coin into his palm. He held it up behind her head. "What seven letter word is on the penny?"

"I don't know."

"Guess," he said petulantly.

She wrung her hands together. "
E Pluribus Unum
. In God We Trust. Legal Tender. No. United States. Oh, God, I can't think!" Then, sotto voce, she began murmuring the Lord's Prayer.

"It's right behind seven-letter Abraham Lincoln." Without looking at the coin he said, "The word is right behind him, seven letters, like the barrel of a gun pointed at his head."

He poked her scalp with a blunt finger. She closed her eyes and whispered, "I don't know."

Michael said, "'Liberty.'" He dropped the penny on the floor. "I'm pretty hungry. What's to eat?"

She stopped crying. "You're hungry?" She gazed at the kitchen. "I have some roast beef, some vegetarian chili... You're welcome to it."

He walked to the table and sat down, easing into the chair. He delicately opened a paper napkin. It covered only a part of his huge lap.

She asked, "Can I stand up?"

"How can you get me dinner if you don't stand up?" She hurtled into the kitchen and busied herself preparing while Michael sang, "'For I love the bonnie blue gal who gave her heart to me.'" He played with the pepper "'Her arms, her arms, are where I want to be...'" She returned, setting a tray in front of him. Michael roared, "'For I love the bonnie blue gal who gave —'" he stopped abruptly, picked up the fork and cut a piece off the beef. This, together with a portion of Jell-O, he put on the pink saucer and placed it in front of her.

She glanced at the food then looked inquiringly at him. "I want you to eat that!" he said.

"I've already... Oh, you think it's poison."

"I don't think it's poison," he sneered. "I don't think there's a posse outside that window. I don't think you're a Pinkerton agent. But you can't be too careful. Now come on. Quit being a shit."

She ate. Then she smiled and went blank-faced again. He studied her for a moment and set his fork down. "Do you have some milk?"

"Milk? I have low-fat is all. Is that all right?"

"Some milk!" he blared, and she jumped to get it. When she returned he'd already started to eat. He drank the glass down, taking with it a mouthful of food. "I used to work in a dairy."

"Well, yes." She nodded politely. "That must be a nice place to work."

"It was very nice. Dr. Richard got me the job."

"Who is he?"

"He was my father."

"Your father was a doctor?"

"Well," he scoffed, "I don't mean a father like that"

"No," she agreed quickly, seeing the darkness fall over his face. He stopped eating. She told him she liked his tweed cap. He touched it and smiled. "I like it too. I have hair but I cut it off.

"'Why did you do that?"

"I can't tell you."

"No, don't tell me anything you don't want to."

"If I don't want to, I won't. You don't have to give me permission."

"I wasn't giving you permission. I didn't mean to sound like I was. You can do whatever you want."

"Don't I know it." Michael cleaned his plate.

"Would you like some more?"

"Milk. I'd like more milk." When she was in the kitchen he added, "Please."

As he took the tall glass from her he intoned in an FM disc jockey's voice, "A wholesome snack."

She barked a laugh and he smiled. As he poured the milk down she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm drinking milk," he answered with exasperation.

"No. I mean, what are you doing out tonight? There's supposed to be a storm like we haven't seen in a donkey's age."

"What's a donkey's age?" He squinted.

She stared at him with a vacant face. "Uhm, now that you ask, I don't exactly know. It means for a long time."

"Is it like an expression! Is it like a cliché?"

"I guess so."

He stared down, his eyes as empty and filmy as the glass in his hand. "Did you know that 'anger' is five-sixths of 'danger'?"

"No, I didn't. But it surely is. How about that?"

"So there."

She broke the very dense silence by asking, "What did you do in the dairy?"

Michael's erection had not gone away. His penis hurt and this was beginning to anger him. He reached into his pocket and squeezed himself then stood and walked to the window. He said, "What's the biggest town near here that has a train station?"

"Well, Boyleston, I suppose. It's south about forty, miles."

"How would I get there?"

"Go west to 315. It'll take you right there. That becomes Hubert Street and it goes right past the train station. Amtrak.

"In no time at all?"

"No time at all," she agreed. "Why are you going there?"

"I told you," he snapped. "I can't say!"'.Her hands went into her lap.

Michael began rummaging through his backpack. "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry," he said to her. But he uttered these words, then repeated them, with such deep longing that it is clear he was apologizing not for being curt but rather for something else — something he was about to do, something far graver than bad manners. He sat down beside her, thigh pressing hard against hers, and as she cried, he set a small white animal skull in her lap and, very gently, began stroking her hair.

Under clouds so fast and turbulent they seemed like special effects from a science-fiction movie, Portia L'Auberget inhaled the scents of decaying leaves and the musky lake. Several feet away her sister lifted the shovel and dropped a huge pile of gravel around the front wheels of the car.

The young woman flexed her hands. They stung and she the skin was starting to blister from the wet gloves. Her muscles were on fire. Her head ached from the rain.

And she was troubled by something else, a vague thought — something other than the storm. At first she wondered if it might be the escape. Yet she'd never really believed that someone like Michael Hrubek could make it all the way to Ridgeton from the mental hospital, certainly not on a night like this.

No, some nebulous memory kept rising up disturbingly then vanishing. It seemed that it had something to do with this portion of the yard. She was picturing... what was it? Plants? Had there been a garden here of some sort? Yes. It was here. The old vegetable garden.