The Long Sleep (11 page)

They, too, had heard the dogs barking. They
didn’t know about the pebbles.

“You said he was in New Hampshire,” Ben
reminded me. “You insisted.”

“I thought he was. Until the pebbles. Glynis
said so.” I felt weak and saggy and told my mother, “I can’t go to
school like this.” I meant my weakness and sagginess.

“Yes, you can,” she said. “You can ride with
Ben. I’ll call the garage and have them pick up your car.”

It was blocking the way out. Ben thumped on
the hood. “You’ll have to move this thing. You steer, I’ll
push.”

I didn’t want anything to do with the car but
no one could get out with it there. I took a deep breath and
climbed in. Daddy joined Ben with pushing. Rhoda directed while I
steered backward.

“Why didn’t you say something?” I asked the
car. “Blow your horn, or bite him.” I could almost see that hood
crashing down on top of Evan. I would come out in the morning and
he’d be stuck there, if he was still alive. He’d have had to spend
the night with his face in a greasy engine. Serve him right.

Ben checked his own brake line and belts and
whatever else he could think of, and we set off to pick up Cree. I
left the cookies at home.

“According to the dogs,” I said as we drove,
“he was here both Saturday and last night. Why didn’t somebody
catch him and kill him?”

Ben said, “It takes a while for the fluid to
leak out.”

“So it could have been Saturday? I used the
car yesterday!”

“Hard to say. It was a pretty big gash. It
could have killed your brakes right about here.”

We were starting down the steep hill toward
the bridge. I could see myself hurtling out of control straight
into the Vanorden Kill. It wasn’t deep enough to drown in but the
crash would have finished me off. “Why doesn’t anything ever happen
to
him?
”

“You did,” said Ben.

“I
did?”

“Isn’t that what he’s all worked up about?”
He took the hill slowly. I closed my eyes.

“You’re going to report this to your
policeman friend,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“You bet I am.”

“Why not now? Does he have voicemail?”

“Yes, he does.” I would have to tell him
everything right off so he wouldn’t try to call me at school.

I felt the road flatten, heard a clanking,
and knew we were on the bridge. I opened my eyes.

Ben said, “I never did like that guy.”

“Who,
Rick?
Falco?”

“Your football jerk. I mean jock.”

“I wish I never heard of him.”

“That’s not how it used to be.”

“Why don’t we not talk about him?”

I hoped Evan wouldn’t come while we were all
out, and beat up on the dogs. Or burn the house or blow it up.

I had programmed Rick’s number into my speed
dial and hoped I wouldn’t be waking him. I got voicemail and left a
message, with Ben advising me on what to say, just as we reached
Cree’s house.

Cree and I had been through a lot together,
with Cree almost getting killed a few times. I told her about the
brakes.

“You’re kidding!” she said.

“Ask Ben. I didn’t even know the jerk was
back in town.”

“How do you know it was him?”

The same thing Glynis said. “Who else would
it be?” I snapped.

“Well . . .”

I knew what that meant. “If you’re thinking
of the person who shot Hank, how would they know where I live?”

“Depending on who it was,” said Ben.

“I know who it was. The jerk’s thrown pebbles
at me twice. This time he didn’t get any reaction so he had to try
something else.”

“That’s a pretty dangerous something else,”
said Cree.

“That’s why my mom thinks it can’t be him.
She, if anybody, should know those things can escalate.”

The bell rang and we started inside. Ben
asked, “Did you have your car locked at home?”

He must have known I hadn’t. He was the only
one who locked up at home. Both our parents parked in the garage.
Their cars were newer and more valuable, and two was all it could
hold.

“You should,” he said.

“In the
driveway?
Why should I have to
lock up in my own driveway?”

“You’re asking why? After this?”

“Okay, okay. I never thought he’d be so
brazen. In fact, maybe everybody’s right and it wasn’t him. Maybe
he really is in New Hampshire.”

“The fact is, somebody messed with your
car.”

“Yes, Ben. I will henceforth lock it. But if
you can’t be safe in your own home . . .”

The next bell sounded. Hardly anyone was left
in the parking lot.

Just as I hurried inside, my phone rang. I
hadn’t turned it off.

The readout said Wireless Caller. It could
have been Rick. But all I could think of was Evan.

Cree looked back at me. We were in the same
homeroom. I waved her on ahead, pressed Talk, and waited for a
blast of march music.

Instead, I heard, “Madelyn? Are you there?
It’s Rick Falco.”

“Officer—Rick—I’m here.” And I was going to
be late.

“I got your message,” he said. “The brake
line? Give me details.”

I gave them as fast as I could. “He’s such a
creep.
I could have been killed.”

“Yes,” Rick agreed, “you could have. But we
have no proof that he did it.”

Not you, too.

“He’s supposed to be in New Hampshire,” I
said. “Why isn’t he there?”

“You’re right about that, too, Maddie. He
isn’t.”

I felt vindicated and shaken at the same
time.

Rick went on. “I called the Garson Academy.
Their office wasn’t officially open but I got them to check. He’s
gone. They wouldn’t tell me why or where. I had the impression he
might have been asked to leave.”

“He’s a criminal. He tried to kill me.”

“I’ll have a look at the car. Where is
it?”

“It was home when I left. My mom is going to
call a tow truck and get it fixed. They usually go to Barger
Brothers.”

“I’ll give them a call right now and hope
they’re not working on it yet.”

Another bell. I wished I could go home, but
Ben had taken his key. He wouldn’t want me driving his precious
truck anyway.

On second thought, the school might be safer,
if only I were in the mood. But I wasn’t.

A chilly wind blew. It told me I should go on
in, even late.

Homeroom hadn’t been dismissed yet and they
all stared. I tried not to mind it. At least I had gotten in while
she was still taking attendance.

All day, I couldn’t concentrate. I kept going
over and over my near date with death. It could have happened
yesterday, braking hard on that steep hill, pushing out fluid until
the brakes failed. Lucky me, when they finally went, I’d been home
on level ground, and I had survived. Thank God for that and for the
rhododendron bush that stopped me.

And for Rhoda’s love of rhododendrons. She
planted them everywhere, not only for their looks and for privacy,
but it was also her name. Rhoda came from the Greek for “rose.”

After school, as Cree and I waited for Ben, I
called the nurses’ station at the hospital. I had put that, too, in
my speed dial.

As soon as I gave my name, they said, “Oh,
you’re the young lady who comes to visit.”

How embarrassing.

“Yes, but I’m not a family member, so I can’t
go in.” That should identify me further. “I’m the one who gave you
the tape to play for him.” I didn’t know which nurse this was, but
thought I’d better remind them they had it.

Whoever she was, she had some news. Not the
good kind. “I’m sorry to say we had a little setback. Late this
morning he had some trouble breathing. We had to intubate him
again.”

My head reeled. I wished I could get inside
Ben’s truck and sit down. All I could do was lean against it.

“Oh . . .” It came out a moan.

“Those things happen,” the nurse said
matter-of-factly. “We’re monitoring him very closely.”

They must have been, if they knew he had
trouble breathing. And got to him right away before he suffered
more brain damage.

“Um—thank you.” Almost automatically, I
added, “I’ll be in touch.”

Cree asked, “Are you okay?”

“No.” Was she really interested? “You know
Hank Dalbeck who got shot? He was having trouble breathing. They
had to intubate him.”

The word sounded pretentious.

“You mean like a breathing tube?” she asked
as Ben arrived and unlocked the door.

“It’s this big around.” I showed her with my
fingers. “It must be horrible having that in your throat,
especially when they’re putting it in. I hope he’s not too
aware.”

“Better than not having it.” Ben looked to
make sure everyone was belted.

“Yes, but a lot of people in a coma aren’t
completely unconscious. They can hear and feel.” I wasn’t sure how
much they felt. Or even heard. When Hank woke up, I would ask him.
I would do an in-depth interview and add it to the series. We could
work together. Even if he didn’t feel up to writing yet, he could
dictate, or give me ideas. I would take it from there.

I imagined us working closely. Hank would be
at home by then.

It reminded me of Arianne, his sister. I
didn’t want to think about Arianne. Somehow the reality of her made
Hank seem further away.

Ben headed toward the bridge. Once again he
was taking me home first to get me out of the way. I felt that
familiar pang of envy. They had each other and I had nobody.

The first thing I noticed on reaching home
was the space where my car had been. Good old Rhoda had followed
through. I wondered how much the tow would cost, not to mention the
repairs themselves. Owning a car is hideously expensive. But where
I lived, not having one would be worse. Much worse than when I went
to Lakeside. In those days I could walk to school, but that was
school only. It was a long hike into the village to do anything fun
or interesting.

“Lock all the doors,” Ben reminded me as he
left with Cree.

“And don’t talk to strangers,” Cree added.
Evan was hardly a stranger. I wished he were, and that I’d never
heard of him.

I poured myself a glass of pomegranate juice,
took it to the living room where I could watch out front, and
opened my cell phone.

Glyn was home. “Maddie? Is that you?”

“Yes, me. You want to know what he did this
time?” I gave her a full account.

She was quiet for a moment. Two moments.
Maybe a full minute. Then, “How can you be sure it was him?”

“Glynis!
You tried that before. Who
else could it be? Why are you defending him?” It wasn’t only Glyn
who made that point, but Falco, too.

“I’m not defending him,” she prickled. “Why
would I do that? I just thought—if it was somebody else and you’re
not keeping an open mind, they could sneak up on you.”

Okay, that made sense. Was Glyn my friend or
not?

“Back in October,” I said, “when I ran into
him accidentally, he said he’d get me. He followed me all over
town, right to the police station. Last week he sent pictures with
my face all messed up. And he cut my brake line. I could have been
killed!”

“That sucks. But how can you—”

“Don’t say it.” I took a sip of juice and
tried to calm myself. “You’re right, I don’t have actual proof, but
who else?”

“Maybe there’s somebody secretly in love with
you,” she said.

“And they tried to kill me? When Evan’s
already threatened? He threw pebbles at my window, just the way he
did that time he broke in and tried to drag me away.”

“But what would be the point?” she asked.
“Cutting your brake line is a bit much, even for him.”

“Maybe he wanted me to know. He wanted to be
my last thought as I hurtled down the steep hill to my death.”

“I miss you,” Glyn sighed.

“You can miss me a lot more when I’m
dead.”

“Maddie, don’t take it out on me. I didn’t do
it.”

“But you’re defending him.”

“Am not!” She hung up.

I stared at the window, not seeing anything.
I only noticed when Rhoda came home, so I got up and unlocked the
door.

“Thank you for taking care of my car,” I
said. “I assume you did, unless he stole it.”

“No, it’s at the garage. Do you have their
number? If it’s ready, I’ll take you there.”

As we drove into town, Rhoda said, “You’d
better keep it locked from now on.”

“Ben told me that, too.” Was I the stupidest
one in the family? “You know what I’ve been thinking? How about a
motion sensor light out in front?”

“It’s an idea.”

“I don’t think they cost all that much.”
Rashly I added, “I’ll pay for it.”

“That won’t be necessary. You’re already
saving us a bundle with the public school. Ben, too.”

“I miss Lakeside. Except for Evan.”

“Less than two years and you’ll be in
college.”

Most of all I missed Glynis. I couldn’t
understand her reaction. Defending Evan. She said she wasn’t. Just
possibly she really thought she was helping me see reason.

Or she had some kind of personal
interest.

She’d always admired his looks. That was
before he started giving me trouble. In fact, most people seemed to
like him. Only Ben, surprisingly with his Asperger’s lack of
insight, had seen what others apparently missed. Or maybe he simply
didn’t trust that excessive charm. Ben thought most people were
phonies.

Rhoda waited while I paid the garage, just in
case I didn’t have enough. I told her I might go somewhere now that
I had the car. She went home and I went to the hospital.

In the parking lot, I locked my car. I never
would have bothered before. Who’d want my old rattletrap? But
theft, obviously, wasn’t the motive.

What if Evan picked the lock? Or jimmied open
a window? There were ways of getting in. The police could do it.
Rhoda had had to call them once when she was at the grocery store
and locked her keys in the car. With the engine running. After that
she always carried a spare key.