The Long Sleep (22 page)

I thought my family would be coming for me.
It seemed Rick himself was going to take me home.

We got settled in his car and he handed me
his cell. So I could call Glyn and hope she would be
forthcoming.

“You know,” I said, “I always call her on my
own cell. She’s in my speed dial. I can’t remember her number
without it.”

Falco was ready for that, too. He had brought
my phone, all charged. He was better organized than I was.

At first, when I talked to her, Glyn evaded
me. Then I mentioned the police.

“Not to arrest him,” I said. “He hasn’t done
anything that I know of, except cut my brake line, if he did that,
and the car thing.” I explained about the DNA, and then had to give
her the whole story.

It blew her away. She wanted to be part of it
and told me Evan was staying in his family’s basement and they
didn’t know it. They weren’t home all that much. He kept his car in
somebody’s abandoned garage. I finally had to cut her off, as there
was so much to talk about.

Falco wrote it all down. “If the DNA matches,
we can bring a charge of rape against Geyer. I doubt she gave her
consent if she was knocked out.”

“But it was so long ago,” I said.

“There’ll be several charges. That’s for
Welbourne only. Then there’s you and Dalbeck. Attempted homicide.
In your case, we have a witness, namely you. And maybe Dalbeck, if
we can prove it.”

“He must have suspected it,” I said. “The way
he acted just now.”

“It has to stand up in court. That’s not
always easy. I’ve got a nice lot of work cut out for me.”

“I’ll help,” I said.

“You bet you will. You haven’t seen the last
of me.”

I was shocked. “I don’t want to see the last
of you.”

He took his hand away from the ignition,
which he’d been about to turn on. “Really? I thought—the way you
kept going to visit him . . .”

There went my face again. I couldn’t meet his
eyes. “You know what I realized? I didn’t even know the guy. I only
just met him. It was all in my mind. I mean, I’m sure he’s a very
worthy person, but I—because of what happened—I was romanticizing.
Just like Evan’s obsession. It wasn’t
real.
” I was utterly
mortified and turned even further away.

Rick was silent. Then he said, “Well. That’s
nice to know.”

I tried to change the subject. “Are you going
somewhere? You’re all dressed up.” He was. In an actual suit and
tie.

“This is a holiday, you know,” he said.

“I know. And I’m still wearing my rolling in
the woods outfit.”

“You’ll have time to change. Dinner’s not
until two. That’s what your mom said.”

“How did she . . .?”

“It’s what time she invited me for. But I
want to get there early and make myself useful.” He started the
engine.

“Rick—”

He turned it off.

“I’m glad she invited you. I’m really, really
glad.”

I knew he was still bothered by my interest
in Hank, who really was a worthy person, but not the same as Rick.
Not to me, anyway. I forced myself to look into his eyes.

Those green eyes. They moved closer and
closer until I had to shut mine. I think he shut his, too.

He came up for air and muttered something
about taking things easy because I was underage.

“A year and a half,” I said, “and then I
won’t be anymore. If you can wait that long.”

“I can wait. Can you?”

the end

About the Author

Caroline Crane began her long writing career with six
award-winning books for young adults. After that came adult novels
of mystery and suspense and one nonfiction book,
Murder and
Mayhem in the Catskills,
for The History Press. Her novels have
been translated into several languages, and some were book club
selections. One,
Summer Girl,
became a made-for-TV movie
starring Kim Darby and Barry Bostwick.

These days Caroline writes for both adults
and young adults, and also has some plans for middle-grade fiction.
She lives in the rural Catskill area, not far from her daughter and
family, and shares a home with her dog and cat.

Caroline invites you to visit her website at
carolinecrane.com
/

Other work by the author at Melange
Books, Fire and Ice

Twenty Minutes Late

Turn the page for more books
available
from Melange Books

Also Available
From Melange Books

Twenty Minutes Late
The Revengers #1

by Caroline Crane

Cree arrives late for her babysitting job to
find the mother gone, the older child in a daze, and the baby
missing without a trace. The police, the neighborhood searchers,
even the FBI can find no clues.

At school, Cree makes a new friend, a girl
with troubles of her own. Maddie has just escaped from an obsessed
and violent boyfriend who continues to stalk her. Her handsome
brother Ben, who has Asperger's syndrome, is also accused of
stalking, although in his case it was unintentional. Cree and
Maddie team up to find some answers. But there are those who don't
want the answers found.

As things come to a head, Cree finds an odd
connection between the two cases. If she can live to tell about
it.

Also Available
From Melange Books

Waiting for Natalie

by Dan Spanton

Natalie Bouchard, a high school student from
Portland, Maine, becomes convinced that her younger brother didn't
drown in an accident years before, but was kidnapped and taken to
Colombia. Without telling her parents, she flies to the Colombian
capitol city of Bogotá, accompanied by a nineteen year old friend,
Caleb Ferguson. A search of city streets and orphanages ends in
disappointment. Finally, as her grandfather arrives to take her
home, she gets a lead. Her little brother may have been taken by
illegal emerald miners to a highly dangerous area north of
Bogotá.

Also Available
From Melange Books

San and Son

by Delores Alm

After police officer, Sam Harding's wife
died, Sam decided to leave California and the sad memories behind.
Now, working as a police officer in Lancaster, Wisconsin, his boss
calls him into his office one day to inform him a woman from
California is accusing of him of impregnating her. The woman is
being deported back to Mexico and wants to leave her son, now
fourteen years old, behind. With Sam. After having paternity tests
done, Sam learns he is indeed the boy's father. Once the boy's
mother is deported to Mexico, Sam and his son have many adjustments
to make in learning to live with each other as father and son.