Dismember

TWENTY-SEVEN

Libby had expected a CSI team and a photographer and a whole slew of miscellaneous law enforcers, just like you saw on TV, but no one else arrived. The two deputies, who had apparently done most of the evidence-collecting themselves before she got there, also finished by themselves, bagging individual items, Willis taking a few last pictures with a small digital camera and his partner writing things down in his notebook. Mike remembered and told them about a knife under his bed, and they seemed to bag it a little more carefully than they had the rest of the evidence. Libby didn’t know enough details of tonight’s fiasco to guess why the knife might be of any particular importance, but she was glad they weren’t lackadaisical about everything. She guessed they were probably doing everything they could, but to her it still didn’t seem like enough.

After their little powwow disbanded, she’d gone out to turn off the Honda’s lights and then come back inside to make herself a cup of tea. Fully caffeinated with a little sugar and milk. While she boiled the water, Mike came in and took two mugs from the cabinet.

“Better make it two,” he said, and she took another teabag from the jar beside the microwave.

The deputies hadn’t told them whether or not they could clean up the mess in the kitchen yet, and so they left it, stepping around the shards and busying themselves with the tea.

They’d only just finished steeping their bags when the two lawmen called them into the living room to tell them they were done. Libby didn’t think they’d been at it nearly long enough, didn’t understand how they could possibly have collected all the evidence already, but she said nothing.

Willis gave them a business card with his number and extension at the sheriff’s department in addition to the numbers for both his home phone and his cell. He told them to call him first thing if anything else happened, not to worry about the hour, and Libby felt a little better. The four of them exited the house and stood in a cluster on the over-lit porch.

In the light, Willis’s beard blazed. He said, “And you might see some more deputies here and there, until they’re finished canvassing the area. More than likely they’ll leave you alone—unless they find something—but don’t worry if you hear a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Well, maybe worry a little, I don’t want you letting your guard down, just in case, but don’t go blowing any holes in the doors, okay?”

“I don’t have a gun,” said Mike.

“Good. It’s better that way.”

Libby thanked him half sincerely. Mike shook hands with both deputies and crossed his arms over his chest. They stood side by side on the porch until the sheriff’s deputies had gotten into their Explorer, turned the vehicle around, and disappeared around the bend in the driveway; then they reentered the house.

They cleaned the mess up like a couple of mindless robots, sipping their tea between chores. Mike duct-taped a piece of cardboard to the outside of the kitchen window while Libby swept the broken glass, and then they reorganized the living room together. The bedroom doorjamb had broken beyond repair, but Mike said he had the materials to make himself a new one later, after things had settled down, speaking automatically, as if not totally aware of what he was saying. He’d have to replace the ruined kitchen window screen, but the bedroom window’s was only bent. Mike managed to pry it back into its original shape, or at least close enough that it fit into the window frame. Libby wiped up the blood on the bedroom floor and scrubbed the area with a hardwood cleaner Mike got her from the workshop. She cleaned up most of the mess, but some had seeped deep into the floorboards, which must not have been well sealed.

It wasn’t that she wanted to clean, but anytime she stopped, she felt herself getting hysterical. So she kept going. And kept going. And kept going.

“Don’t worry too much about that,” Mike said. “I’ll have to sand down the floors and then refinish them. Even if the stains were barely noticeable, I don’t think I could sleep in here every night knowing they were there.”

“Speaking of which,” said Libby, sitting on her bent legs, wiping a strand of hair from her face, “would you mind if I stayed here? There’s no way I’ll ever fall asleep, but maybe I could camp out on the couch, wait for the phone to ring.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t let you leave if you wanted to. I’d go crazy if you left. Probably will anyway.”

Libby smiled despite the handful of bloody rags. “Thanks.”

“You should be here if anything happens. If they find him, I mean.” He stepped to his bed, which the deputies had moved to get to the knife, and pushed it back against the wall. Their tea sat on the nightstand. Mike picked up the mugs and handed Libby hers.

“You really got stabbed?”

Mike shrugged. “I guess technically.” Libby was still sitting on the floor, and Mike eased onto the edge of the bed. “Actually, I’m surprised it wasn’t worse. He really jabbed me good.”

Libby swallowed a mouthful of warm tea and shivered anyway. “Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the hospital?”

Mike shrugged again. “No, but I don’t think their doctor guy would have been so casual about it if he thought there was any chance it might turn worse. The way he talked, you’d have thought I just stubbed my toe.”

“I guess that’s lucky.” She shifted her legs beneath her so she sat cross-legged.

Mike raised his eyebrows, and Libby guessed lucky wasn’t the word he’d have picked.

She said, “I still don’t understand this. Why would anybody take Trevor? Some random psycho just wandered onto your property?”

“I don’t know.” He rested his mug on his leg. “You sure you didn’t hire out one of your boyfriends to do it?”

She frowned. “That’s not funny.”

He raised his hand in apology, smiling a little. “Sorry. Just a tease. I know it’s nothing like that.”

“I want to know what happened. Those cops weren’t exactly chatterboxes when it came to details.”

“Let’s get more tea first,” Mike said, “and then I’ll tell you.”

They did, and then they sat together on the couch and Mike talked for a long time.