Black Lightning

CHAPTER 56

Anne came home to an empty house, and searched in vain for a note telling her where Glen might have gone. There was nothing: no Post-it on the refrigerator, no message on the answering machine. So she was pretty sure he hadn’t gone too far, especially since his Saab was parked in its usual spot. At least the damn motor home hadn’t been able to displace both their cars! Then the front door slammed, and a moment later Kevin came through the dining room into the kitchen. Alone.

“Isn’t Heather with you?” Anne asked.

Kevin shook his head. “She’s over on Broadway, hangin’ with Rayette.”

Anne felt a stab of the same fear that had made her call the school that afternoon. She’d distinctly told Heather not to let Kevin walk home alone. Had Heather assumed she’d only meant yesterday? “Why didn’t you go with her?” she asked, trying not to let Kevin see how upset she was.

Her son, who was now poking around in the refrigerator, shrugged. “I did, but they weren’t doing anything, so I came home.” Then, with far more aplomb than Anne would have expected, he added, “That guy that killed Mrs. Cottrell is dead, isn’t he? So what’s the big deal if I was walking by myself?”

For a moment Anne wasn’t sure what to say. But then she wondered why she was surprised at Kevin’s composure — after all, for years her children had been dealing with kids who brought knives and guns to school, and she probably knew even better than most parents just how much violence and crime city kids were exposed to every day of their lives. “I think you and I better have a little talk,” she said.

Kevin rolled his eyes, but gave up his search for something to eat, and perched on the edge of one of the kitchen chairs.

“Just because the man who killed Mrs. Cottrell is dead doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to be wandering around by yourself. Until they find out who killed him—”

“Aw, Mom, come on,” Kevin groaned. “What are you gonna do, lock me up? What about that kid that got shot down by Garfield? You didn’t make me start hangin’ with Heather all the time then!”

Anne shuddered as she remembered the girl who’d been killed on the sidewalk in front of Garfield High. She had covered the case — a teenage hazing that up until a few years ago would never have resulted in anything more serious than hurt feelings.

Now kids got killed.

No one could even guarantee Kevin’s safety at school anymore — how could she expect to keep him safe simply by making him walk home with his sister every day? The ugly reality was that if someone was truly determined to kill — whether the intended victim was a total stranger, one of her kids, or even herself — there was virtually nothing she could do about it. Furthermore, Kevin was right — she certainly couldn’t just lock him up until whoever had killed Rory Kraven was caught. And if, through some bizarre circumstances she couldn’t even begin to understand, it turned out that Rory Kraven’s killer had actually committed all the crimes Richard Kraven had been accused of, then he’d already eluded identification for years; what made her think he wouldn’t be able to keep on doing it? She thought about the five transcripts of interviews she’d read that afternoon. Five out of 127. And she didn’t even know what she was looking for.

The sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted her thoughts, then Glen appeared in the kitchen doorway. The second she saw him, Anne felt her anger rising. Her anger, and her defenses, too. He’d known how frightened she was, how worried, since Kumquat had been found dead in the alley, but he’d just taken off somewhere without so much as a note or a message on the answering machine. She found herself looking at him in a way she never had before — searching his face for some clue as to what had gone wrong, what had changed him.

And whether he’d killed Kumquat?

The thought flashed unbidden into her mind; she banished it instantly, furious at herself for allowing Mark Blakemoor to have planted the seed of such an idea. And Glen looked all right — he was smiling; smiling the way he used to, before his heart attack. As he leaned over to kiss her, she felt her guard lowering a little.

“Hey, guy,” he said, straightening up from the kiss and rumpling Kevin’s hair. “Why the long faces? You two having a fight?”

“Mom thinks I should have to come home with Heather every day,” Kevin grumbled.

“I didn’t say that,” Anne began, then realized it was almost exactly what she had said, or at least implied. “All right, maybe I did. But just promise me you’ll be careful, okay? Stay away from strangers, and if you see anyone even looking at you, just walk away. Promise?” Kevin’s eyes rolled heavenward once more. “Promise?” Anne repeated.

“Do what your mom says, and I’ll take you fishing on Saturday.”

Instantly Kevin’s face lit up. “Really?”

“Really. I promise, if you promise.”

“I promise!” Kevin sang out. “Where?” he demanded. “Are we going to be gone all night? Can Justin go, too?”

“No, Justin can’t go.” Glen laughed. “It’s gonna be just you and me. And I don’t know where we’ll go. And maybe we’ll spend the night somewhere, and maybe we won’t, depending on what your mom thinks.”

As Kevin dashed out of the room to call Justin Reynolds and tell him how he was going to spend the weekend, Anne tamped down her irritation with her husband. What was going on? When had he decided to take Kevin fishing for the weekend? He certainly hadn’t mentioned anything about it to her, and until now they’d always discussed everything concerning the kids. Even before Heather was born, they’d resolved to make all the decisions together. “Don’t I have anything to say about this fishing trip?” she asked, abandoning the attempt to conceal her feelings. “And while you’re at it, you might tell me why you didn’t bother to leave me a note. After what’s been happening—”

“Hey,” Glen broke in, holding up his hands as if to fend off an attack of swarming bees. “Look, I’m really sorry I didn’t leave a note. I went down to see Gordy Farber, and it took a little longer than I thought it would.”

Anne’s anger instantly dissolved into concern. “What did he say?” she asked, hoping the doctor hadn’t told Glen he’d called him at her own urging.

“He said I’m doing just fine,” Glen replied, seeing no reason to worry her. Besides, both Farber and Jake Jacobson had told him to stop worrying, hadn’t they? “If I’d gotten home five minutes earlier, you wouldn’t even have known I’d been gone, would you?” He moved closer to her and drew her to her feet. “Come on, it wasn’t more than five minutes, was it?”

His arms drew her close to his chest, and Anne’s determination wavered. “It was closer to ten minutes,” she said, struggling to keep some kind of control over the situation. “And you still haven’t answered my question about this little trip with Kevin. We always talk about these things, remember?”

“How could I remember?” Glen asked. “I’ve never even considered taking Kevin fishing before.”

Now his lips were nuzzling at her neck, and part of Anne wanted to push him away, while the other part wanted to snuggle closer. “Glen, wait,” she protested, but his embrace only tightened. “Oh, God, what am I going to do with you?” she sighed, her anger collapsing under a wave of affection for the man she’d married.

Anne was still in Glen’s arms when Boots trotted into the room. The little dog started toward Glen but stopped abruptly, one foreleg hovering off the floor. A tiny growl emerged from his throat and his hackles rose.

Then, his eyes still fixed on Glen, he slowly backed away.