Far From True

Three

“Hello? Georgina?”

“No, it’s not Georgina. It’s me. You heard what’s happened?”

“I’ve just been waiting for Georgina to come home, to call, let me know where she is. What’s going on?”

“The goddamn drive-in just fell down.”

“What?”

“The screen toppled over. Like a huge fucking wall.”

“That’s crazy. But it’s closed, right? So nobody was hurt or—”

“No, listen to me. This was the last night for the place. It’s packed. It’s just happened. First responders barely even there yet.”

“Jesus.”

“Look, we’ve got a problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw Adam.”

“What? You saw Adam where?”

“Adam and Miriam. I was going by the drive-in as cars were going in, caught a glimpse of Adam’s Jag, that old convertible of his? Had to be him and Miriam. Not another car like that in Promise Falls. I’d stopped for a coffee up the road, and when I heard the explosion—”

“It was an explosion?”

“Whatever it was. When I heard it, I drove back, got a quick look at what’s happened. That Jag is toast. I could see the tail end of it sticking out of the rubble.”

“Oh, God, that’s terrible. I can’t believe it. Adam and Miriam, maybe they got out before—”

“No, there’s no way. You don’t see the problem?”

“They’re dead. Yeah, it’s horrendous. My God.”

“There’s a bigger problem, for us. With them dead, someone’ll have to clear out their house, go through their things. Next of kin. Adam’s daughter, what’s-her-name.”

A pause at the other end of the line.

“You there?”

“Yeah.”

“Now do you see the problem?”

“I do.”