Nine

10

Denver, Colorado

Monday, May 19, 5:13 P.M.

Kit was watching Spooky swim laps in the indoor pool of his Denver home when one of his two cellular phones chirped. He knew immediately that it was a business call. The other phone was set to vibrate silently when a call came in, and only one person had that phone number. Until last November, about once or twice every month, he had received a call on it. But over the last six months, it hadn’t rung at all. Nevertheless, he kept it with him at all times, even sleeping with it, and was especially cautious about having fresh batteries available for it.

It was the business phone that rang now, and he answered it.

“Mr. Logan?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve located the jet. It left Frankfurt several hours ago.”

“The passengers?”

“Two German businessmen. Young men. No names yet.”

“The names don’t matter. They won’t be using their real names. And the flight plans won’t be real, either-they’ll be changed at the last moment.”

“Yes, sir. As before.”

“Exactly. But it will be easier to keep track of a private jet than two men.”

“As soon as we have further information, we’ll let you know. Anything else we can do for you now?”

He put a hand in his windbreaker and touched the rabbit’s foot there.

“Check the German newspapers for any reports of homicides over the next few days. Especially strangulations.”

“But they aren’t there now-”

“It’s unlikely that any bodies will be found immediately. They aren’t stupid.”

“No, sir.”

“Neither is my staff. Thank you for the information.” He took a deep breath and asked about the caller’s children. He was not someone who found social interaction easy and had to remind himself to ask such questions, to make small talk. His grandmother had taught him how to proceed in these matters, but he did so as an anthropologist might, a man trying to fit into an alien culture, and never with any real ease. So it was with some relief that he reached the point in the conversation where he felt it would be all right to end the call.

Spooky came out of the water then and wrapped herself in a beach towel. “Was that your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, and I don’t want one. You know that.”

“So, are you gay?”

“I don’t have or want a boyfriend, either.” He told himself not to let her nettle him.

“So-what, you’re like, what? A nothing?”

“Right, a nothing.”

She bit one corner of the towel, twisted it as she chewed. “Sorry,” she said after a moment. “That wasn’t very nice of me.”

“No, but don’t worry about it. Get dressed.”

“Are we going out for dinner?”

“If you’d like. What do you want?”

“McDonald’s.”

He winced. Spooky saw travel as an opportunity to eat french fries and cheeseburgers. Not to his own tastes, but he said, “Okay.”

Spooky laughed and hurried off to change.

He sat watching the water, letting it soothe him.

He had been worried all day, because he had dreamed the digging dream again last night. Usually, he thought of it as one of his least disturbing memory-dreams, but the last time he had dreamed it was the night before Molly was killed.

He made an effort, not entirely successful, to consider the matter of the killing of the dog dispassionately. He knew that by making sure he was seen, Cameron had left a warning-no, not a warning, he decided, but a challenge-an invitation to strike back. He wasn’t exactly sure what Everett wanted from him, although he could make some guesses. It would be Everett’s plan. Wherever Cameron was, Everett was behind the scenes, manipulating. Were others involved? He would go to Malibu to learn what he could. And he could keep Spooky safer there.

He felt the other phone vibrate then and forced himself to be calm, to let it ring twice before answering. Could be a wrong number. Probably was a wrong number. He flipped it open.

“Hello, Kit? It’s Meghan Taggert.”

Meghan. Not a wrong number after all. He felt elated, but hid that, as well as his mild annoyance that she gave her full name. He would have recognized her voice. It was low and rough, a voice of whiskey and smoke, although he had never seen her drink or light up a cigarette. Still, he was so pleased that she had finally called again, so relieved that she was safe, he wasn’t going to quibble. “Hello, Meghan,” he said, not letting his voice betray his feelings.

“Do you have a minute? Am I bothering you?”

“No-I mean, I have time, and you aren’t bothering me. It’s good to hear from you.”

“I wondered-I’m calling-it’s about Gabe.”

It was always about Gabe. He hid his annoyance at that, too. “Have you heard from him?”

“No, nothing since…not since…”

“Before he became a fugitive,” he said.

“Right. Listen, I shouldn’t have called. I’m sorry, I guess it’s just an old habit. I feel worried about Gabe, so I call you. I shouldn’t. It’s not fair to you.”

“I like that you call me. I’ll do whatever I can. You know that. I’m…” He searched for a word. “I’m honored that you call me.” That didn’t sound right, but he hurried on, afraid she’d hang up on him for saying such a dumb thing. “I’ll do whatever I can, but I can’t help out if you don’t tell me what’s troubling you.”

She hesitated, then said, “It’s nothing, really. Just-has he contacted you lately?”

“No, I haven’t talked to him since last summer. Just before…before the news.”

“Before the murders.”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe he did it?” she asked quietly, as if asking softly might soften his answer. “Do you think he could kill a family?”

He thought of her trouble-prone brother, who had been his closest friend at Sedgewick. Gabe, who did his best to welcome the new kid to the school, while others whispered uneasily that Kit had murdered his stepfather because of a dog. Sedgewick was a school of truants, misfits, and bullies, but even among them, Kit’s history was extreme and caused the other boys to think of him as a hard case. Most were wary of him, stepping away from him as he walked down the halls. Not Gabe. Beneath Gabe’s party-boy, man-on-the-edge façade, Kit learned, he was acutely aware of the feelings of others.

Gabe was at times heedless but rarely intentionally unkind. And he wasn’t violent. Even after Kit convinced him to learn to defend himself (on the grounds that he needed to be able to look after Meghan), Gabe would rather run from a fight than throw a punch. Yes, his addictions had led him to become a thief, and his attitude about taking material things was wrong-Kit doubted even Gabe believed the rationalization that the theft of heavily insured goods really didn’t do much harm. Even so, taking a diamond ring wasn’t the same as taking a life.

“No,” he said. “I’ll never believe that of Gabe. But…”

“But he was there, with the people who were breaking into the house, and so the law will say he’s as guilty of murder as the guy who did the shooting. Just for being with them!”

“Meghan,” he said gently, “he probably wasn’t just with them, he was probably there to do some breaking and entering.”

“Yes, you’re right. That’s his history, after all.”

The guilt came washing over him then. “I knew he had done things like that before. And I knew he was broke. He’d asked me for money.”

She must have guessed the direction of his thoughts, though, because she said, “You couldn’t have stopped him, Kit. Even if you had given him the money he asked for-and I don’t blame you for turning him down, either. He just would have used it to get drunk or high.”

“I guess I can’t help but believe…maybe if he’d had money, Gabe and his friends wouldn’t have been there, and those people would be alive.”

“I didn’t give him money, either. Does that make me guilty, too?”

“No, of course not.”

“Maybe not, but I think about it every day, Kit. Every single day. I ask myself if I could have prevented it from happening. Even though I know he would have spent everything I gave him or you gave him-it would have been gone in no time. Just like his inheritance. You’ve always stood by him, and he’s been nothing but a pain in the ass. But this-it’s so awful, Kit. Worse than anything he’s ever been involved in before. I guess I’ve been ashamed to call you because of it.”

“No, Meghan. Don’t say that. Please. He’s always been in one kind of trouble or another. It’s not your fault. It’s just-just the way he is. He doesn’t like killing. He would have hated that. He just got mixed up with the wrong people.”

“Is that really all it takes? I don’t know.”

What could he tell her? That no effort on her part would have made a difference? That her brother would have to save himself? No, she wouldn’t be able to hear that, not now. Besides, he knew that he’d do anything he could to help Gabe, if Gabe ever sought his help again.

Would Gabe contact him? It had been almost a year since he had talked to him.

Now he wondered if he had been too certain of Gabe’s ability to stay concealed. What if someone other than the FBI was looking for Gabe?

He thought of the private jet that had flown to Germany.

“Kit?”

Her voice brought his thoughts back to her. Cautiously, he said, “Meghan, you can always call me. Always. I’m not just Gabe’s friend. I’m your friend, too.”

There was another long silence. He agonized over what he had just said to her. Had he been too eager? Did he say something offensive to her? Would she ever call again?

And then, to his shock, he heard her crying.

“Meghan, please-please don’t cry.”

“God, Kit. I’m sorry. I should have called you a long time ago.”

He was silent, unsure of how to proceed.

He heard her sniff. “Man, can you believe it? Me, crying. In a hotel lobby no less. Where the last thing I want to do is make a scene.”

“Why are you at a hotel?”

She laughed. “Like my brother, I’m a fugitive from the FBI.”

“What?”

“No, not because I’ve broken any laws. But they’re watching the house, probably thinking Gabe will try to contact me, or that I’m hiding him or-God knows. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sure my phone has been tapped. So I took off. I’m in Albuquerque, trying to unwind a little. Not that it’s working-I keep having this sensation of being watched, so I guess I’m still too uptight. I’m using one of those prepaid calling cards from a pay phone. Ridiculously paranoid, right?”

“No, smart. Did you use a credit card to pay for your hotel room?”

“Yes. Oh-I guess they do know where I am now,” she said in dismay.

“Maybe not yet, but they probably will soon. You said Gabe hasn’t contacted you since the robberies?”

“Not a word. To be honest, I almost hope he won’t contact me. No, that’s not true, either. I don’t know what I want anymore. Sometimes I want him to be caught before he does anything else so stupid, so wrong. But when I think of him facing the death penalty, I go crazy. I can’t think of letting that happen to him. I think I’d rather help him get to another country, or-I don’t know. I don’t know.”

He screwed up his courage. “I could come there. I could come and get you, help you get away for a few days. I’m on my way back to L.A. from Denver. I’m taking Spooky to Malibu.”

“I thought you said she usually stays home when you travel, that someone stays at home with her then.”

“Usually her tutor or one of my employees stays with her. But I decided to bring her with me this time.” He hesitated and decided he would tell her the rest when they were face-to-face. “I have some business to take care of inL.A.-I don’t think I’ll be there for long.”

“It would be so good to see you, but I don’t want to put you to even more trouble.”

“No trouble. In fact, I’d be putting you to trouble. You haven’t met Spooky yet.”

“Maybe I could help keep her entertained while you go to meetings or whatever it is you have to do.”

“That would be great,” he said, even as he began to question the wisdom of his plan. This was no time for behaving impulsively. But to see Meghan…to make sure she was safe…

“I’m staying at the Sandia Towers,” she said. “Can you pick me up here tomorrow?”

He could hear his own pulse. He forced himself to think, to calm down. “Just to be on the safe side, let’s meet away from the hotel. It will make life a little more difficult for anyone who is following you. Do you have much luggage?”

“Just a small overnight bag. I can get anything else I need in L.A.”

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then tomorrow afternoon at about four, take a cab to the Sandia Tramway and take the tram to the top of the mountain. From the hotel to the peak, it’s probably a trip of about thirty minutes. There’s a restaurant there called the Peak Experience. We’ll meet you there, okay?”

“Great.”

“Bring a warm jacket and wear shoes you can walk in-I won’t be able to park closer than a mile from the restaurant.”

“Okay. And-thanks, Kit.”

“See you soon.”

Spooky came back out just as he ended the call. “Who was that?”

“A friend. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m starving. What friend?”

“Someone you’ll meet soon. Let’s go.”

“A woman?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“Who is she?”

“An old friend.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“We’ve just had this conversation, haven’t we?”

She shrugged and looked away. They walked out to the Suburban in silence. He kept a hand on the phone, still warm from being held during the conversation. His fingertips touched the rabbit’s foot. He thought of how much he liked the sound of Meghan’s voice.

And now he would see her in person for the first time since he graduated from high school.

The rabbit’s foot did not prevent him from being assailed by doubts.

“I wish you were gay,” Spooky said.