S is for Silence

32

Daisy and I finished supper a little after 7:00-salad and pasta with a sauce that came out of a can. Neither of us had much appetite, but the normality of eating seemed to lift her spirits. I left her to read the paper while I rinsed our few dishes and put them in the machine. I heard the phone ring. Daisy picked up and then called into the kitchen. “Hey, Kinsey? It’s Liza.”

“Tell her to hang on. I’ll be right there.”

I closed the dishwasher and dried my hands on a kitchen towel before I went into the living room. Daisy and Liza were chatting away so I waited my turn. I wanted to ask Liza why she’d lied about Foley, but I didn’t think I should raise the subject with Daisy in the room. She might have had a good reason, and there was no point in jeopardizing their relationship if what she had to say made sense. Daisy finally surrendered the phone.

“Hey, Liza. Thanks for returning my call.”

“I didn’t mean to be short with you earlier. Violet’s death has been hard. I know I should have seen it coming it, but I guess I was holding out that one small hope.”

“Understood,” I said, knowing she didn’t know the half of it. “Listen, can you spare me half an hour? There’s something we need to talk about.”

“That sounds serious. Like what?”

“Let’s don’t go into it now. I think it’s better in person.”

“When?”

“Now, if possible. It shouldn’t take long. I have an appointment at nine, but I could swing by in the next half hour.”

“That sounds okay. Kathy’s coming over in a bit, but I suppose that would work. Can you give me a hint?”

“I will when I get there. It’s really no big deal. See you shortly.”

I signed off before she had a chance to change her mind.

I leaned against the counter in Liza’s kitchen, watching her decorate a cake. She wore an oversize white apron over her jeans and white T-shirt. A scarf was tied around her head to keep her hair out of her eyes and off the cake. I could see one curve of the silver locket visible under the apron bib.

“How’s your granddaughter?”

“She’s great. I know everybody says this, but she really is gorgeous. Big eyes, little pink bow mouth, and this fine brown hair. I can’t wait to get my hands on her. Marcy let me hold her for a half a minute, but she was hovering the whole time so it was no fun at all.”

She’d smoothed on the first two coats of frosting before I arrived and she was now piping an elaborate design on the top. “This is for a kid’s birthday party. Actually, a thirteen-year-old who’s into Dungeons and Dragons, in case you’re wondering.”

She’d set up a series of parchment-paper cones, each filled with a different vividly tinted icing, each capped with a metal tip cut to produce a specific effect-leaves, shells, scrolls, flower petals, and rope bordering. With a practiced hand and steady pressure, she created a dragon with a strange dog-shaped face. Switching cones, she defined its arched body in vibrant lime green and orange frostings, and then added strong red frosting to detail the flames that twisted from the dragon’s mouth.

“I’ve seen that dragon. It was on a kimono hanging on the back of Daisy’s bathroom door.”

“That was her mother’s. I’ve got the image burned indelibly on my brain.”

I felt myself tripping backward to the notion of Violet buried alive, as though i were in the car instead. Given the size of the Bel Air, there would have been sufficient oxygen to last for a while. The suffocation would have been slow, shutting her down by degrees. Anyone with asthma or emphysema would identify with her panic and suffering. I could only guess. Still, I found myself breathing deeply for the pure pleasure and relief.

When Liza finished decorating the cake, she opened the refrigerator door and tucked it on a shelf. She untied her apron and tossed it over the back of a kitchen chair. “What’s this about?”

I’d hoped to be subtle, working my way around to the subject by some delicate route, but I’d been sidetracked by the image of the dragon and came right out with it. “I think you lied about Foley.”

“I did?” She seemed taken aback, her tone tinged with surprise, as though falsely accused. Thousands might have lied about Foley, but surely not her. “About what?”

“The time he came in.”

She picked up and then put down the tube of bright blue icing she’d used to form the ground on which the dragon writhed. Apparently my approach wasn’t that persuasive because she didn’t ‘fess right up.

I tried again. “Look, Liza. His story’s been consistent for the past thirty-four years. He may have omitted an item or two, but most claims he’s made have been verified.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I did the work myself and I’m here to testify.”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“Liza, please don’t play games. It’s too late for that. My guess is he got home when he said he did and your account was just bullshit.”

“What do you want me to say, that I’m sorry?”

“No point apologizing to me. He’s the one you wronged.”

“I didn’t wrong him. Everything that’s happened to him he brought on himself.”

“With a little help from you.”

“Excuse me. Did you come over here to lay shit on me? Because that, I can do without. I’ve got a lot going on.”

I raised my hands. “You’re right. I take it back. Life is tough enough as it is.”

“Thank you.”

“Just tell me what happened. Look, I’m sorry about Violet, but I don’t understand what went on that night. Were you in the house or not?”

“Kind of.”

“Meaning what? Somewhere in the neighborhood?”

“Don’t be a shit or I won’t say another word.”

“Sorry. I forgot myself. Please go on.”

There was a pause and then, reluctantly, she said, “Ty came to the house. He parked his truck in the alley and we necked. I was less than twenty feet away so if anything had happened, I’d have been right there. Violet knew he was coming over because we talked about it and she said it was fine.”

“Good. That helps. How long was he there?”

“A while. When I finally came in, the bedrooms were dark. I looked in Daisy’s room and knew she was okay. I never thought to check their bedroom. He was probably there if he said he was. Afterwards, I couldn’t admit I was irresponsible so I made up a story about the time. Next thing I knew, this deputy was pressing me for answers so what was I supposed to do? By then, I’d painted myself into a corner and I had to stick to my guns.”

“Got it.”

“Good. So now you know.”

There was a moment wherein she was thinking that the subject was closed and I was thinking we were finally going to get some place. I had a theory and I was gingerly feeling my way. “You went to live with your dad in Colorado, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I hear that arrangement didn’t work out so hot.”

“It was short-lived. A failed experiment, but such is life.” She crossed to the kitchen faucet where she dampened a sponge so she could wipe down the counter. Preoccupied, she scooped a few crumbs into her palm and tossed them into the sink.

“Is this painful to talk about?”

She smiled briefly. “I don’t know. I’ve never had occasion to talk about it.”

“The first time we met, do you remember what you said?”

“About what?” She moved her decorating tips aside, wiping under them as well.

“Losing Violet and Ty. You said, ‘You play the hand you’re dealt. There’s no point in dwelling on it afterwards.’”

“I must have been waxing philosophical. It doesn’t sound like me.”

“Did you get pregnant?”

Her eyes sought mine. “Yes.”

“From that night?”

“First and last time with the guy and boom.”

“What happened to the baby?”

“I put her up for adoption. Would you like to see a picture?”

“Please.”

She set the sponge aside and reached for the heart-shaped locket, pulling it out from under the bib of her apron. She opened it and leaned forward, holding it so I could see. There was a black-and-white photograph of Violet. She flipped the inner rim, revealing a second frame hidden behind the first. In it there was a photo of a newborn. The baby looked frail and wizened, not one of the worst I’d ever seen but certainly not the best. Liza looked down, her expression wistful and proud. “She was so tiny. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her, how delicate she was. Know what Violet said when she gave me this? She said, ‘That’s for your true love. I predict within a year you’ll know exactly who it is.’ And so I did.”

“Did you get to hold her?”

“For a while. The nurse advised against it, but I knew it was the only time I’d ever get to spend with her. I was fourteen years old and my father wouldn’t consider my doing anything else. I should have stayed with my mom. Despite her problems, she was a good egg and would have found a way to make it work.”

“You have no idea where the baby is?”

“Probably in Colorado. A few years ago, I wrote her a letter and left it with the agency so if she ever wants to reach me, she’ll have my name and address.”

“Ty never knew?”

“I’d have told him, I think, if I’d ever heard from him.”

“I talked to him.”

“I know. He called me right afterward and said you’d given him my name and number.”

“Only your married name. He looked up your phone number on his own, which I think should count in his favor. He said he wrote to you. Did he tell you that as well?”

She nodded. “His mom probably intercepted his mail. Or maybe the letters reached my mom and she never sent them on.”

“Or maybe she sent them to your father’s house and he decided not to let you know.”

“That would fit. What a shit-heel he was. I’ve scarcely spoken to him since. I’m sure he thought he was doing what was best. God save us from the people who want to do what’s best for us.”

“What happens now?”

“I guess we’ll wait and see. Ty said he’d call again and we’d find a way to get together. Wouldn’t that be strange after all these years?”

“Will you tell him about his daughter?”

“Depends on how it goes. In the meantime, are the two of us square?”

“Totally.”

She flicked a look at the clock. “Your appointment’s at nine?”

“It is. I’ll hang out at Daisy’s until I have to hit the road.”

“Why don’t you stick around? Kathy should be here any minute. You could wait and say hello.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not all that fond of her, but thanks anyway.”

Liza laughed. “What about Winston?”

“Him, I like.”

“Well, he’s apparently on the warpath and she’s furious. That’s what she’s coming over to discuss.”

“Wow. I’m surprised. I’d love to hear about that.”

As though on cue, the doorbell rang and then Kathy opened the door and banged in with a bottle of white wine in hand. She tossed her purse on a chair, saying, “That guy is such an asshole!”

She was wearing heels and hose, a T-shirt, and a floral cotton skirt that was slightly too short for the shape of her legs. She stopped when she saw me. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you had company. I can come back later if you’re tied up.”

“No, no. Not a problem. Kinsey’s met Winston, but I’m sure her lips are sealed.”

I raised my right hand, as though being sworn in.

Kathy was in motion again, coming into the kitchen, where she placed the bottle on the counter. “Well, shit. I don’t care who knows about the prick. It serves him right.” She went about the business of opening the wine-cutting the foil, auguring out the cork. She crossed to one of the kitchen cabinets and removed three wineglasses, which she lined up on the counter. I declined, so she filled the other two and handed one to Liza.

It was odd to see the contrast between the two blondes. Liza’s features were delicate-straight nose; fine, flaxen hair; and a wide mouth. She was slender, with small hands and long, narrow fingers. Kathy’s hair was thick, with a slightly frizzy wave that probably got worse when the humidity went up. She was built along sterner lines, with the look of someone who has managed to lose weight but will surely gain it back.

Liza said, “So what’s he gone and done?”

“He hired a divorce attorney. That guy, what’s-his-butt, Miller, the one whose brother got killed.”

Liza wrinkled her nose. “Colin Miller? Kathy, that’s bad news. He’s horrible when it comes to women. I don’t know how he gets away with it. He must have an in with the judges because his clients do great and all the ex-wives end up screwed. Joanie Kinsman wasn’t awarded enough support to cover the mortgage. She was forced to live in her car until Bart came along.”

“Perfect. That’s just what I need. I don’t know what got into him. He must have been burning up the phone lines because the jerk got me served. Can you believe it? I get home from my tennis lesson and there’s a process server on my doorstep, shoving all this shit in my face. I felt like a criminal. And get this. He’s refusing to leave. Last week I talked him into finding his own apartment and everything was set. Now he won’t budge. He says he’s paying for the house and he intends to live there and if that doesn’t suit me, I can move out myself. Where does he get off? You know what else he said? He says if I give him any guff, he’ll default on the loan, quit his job, and take off.”

“Geez, that’s extreme. Have you talked to your dad?”

“Of course! I called and told him everything.”

“What’d he say?”

“He said I should keep my mouth shut and get a good attorney of my own. He says Winston’s a great manager and as much as it would grieve him, he’d have to hang with him.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, ouch. Anyway, I’m sorry to bust in. I know I sound like a raving lunatic, but I’ll be feeling better in a minute. Cheers.” She lifted her wineglass in a toast and then drank it half down. I could hear her epiglottis working with every gulp she took.

Liza took a sip of wine and set it down. She was fiddling with the sponge again, but she wasn’t cleaning much. “Guess who called?”

For an instant Kathy seemed surprised that someone other than herself would be the topic of conversation. “Who?”

“Ty.”

“Eddings? You’re putting me on. Talk about a voice from the past. What the hell did he want?”

“Nothing. He was calling to touch base. He lives in Sacramento.”

“Doing what?”

“He’s a criminal lawyer.”

“Oh, please. Given his history, I’m surprised he didn’t wind up in jail.”

“I guess he saw the error of his ways.”

“Fat chance of that,” Kathy said. “Anyway, I called Winston the minute the process server left. I was so damn mad, I could hardly keep a civil tongue. I mean, I managed, but just barely-”

“He told me your mother was the one who blew the whistle on us.”

That stopped her cold. “Are you serious? Well, that’s weird.”

“According to Ty, Livia called his aunt Dahlia, who turned around and called his mom. And that’s why she drove in and hauled him off.”

“Huh, that’s funny. I had no idea.”

“Me neither. I was shocked.”

“Maybe she did you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Come on. The guy was a loser. You were so ga-ga over him, you couldn’t even see straight.”

“Why was that any of Livia’s concern?”

“Liza, you know how judgmental she was. She thought she was right. You were barely fourteen years old and had no business taking up with the likes of him. If Ty’s mother hadn’t showed up, no telling what kind of trouble you’d have gotten yourself into. All that petting? Get real. Can’t you see that he was setting you up?”

“But how’d she find out?”

“What?”

“We know Livia told Dahlia, but who told her?”

“Don’t look at me. All the kids at school knew. That’s all they ever talked about-the fact that the two of you were fooling around. I can’t tell you how many times I had to come to your defense.”

Liza looked at the counter. “Really.”

“Trust me. I was on your team. Remember Lucy Speiler and that guy she was hanging out with? What a mess he was-”

“Kathy, don’t go on and on. You’re the one who told.”

“Me? I can’t believe you’d say that.”

“Well, I did. You were jealous of Violet and you were jealous of Ty. Remember the day you brought over my birthday gift and I wasn’t home? You went to my room and read my diary and that’s what you told your mom. God knows why. Maybe you thought you’d been anointed to save my immortal soul.”

“Maybe I was. Did it ever occur to you how gullible you were? You were so pathetic. Violet could make you do anything. Whatever she wanted-didn’t matter how outrageous it was-you’d lie down, roll over like a pup, and start licking her hand.”

“We were friends.”

“What kind of woman makes friends with a thirteen-year-old? You know why she did that? Because no one her age would have anything to do with her. She was cheap. She was sleazy and she slept all over town. She’d have liked nothing better than to have you in the same boat with her. You know what they say, misery loves company.”

“You didn’t know her the way I did.”

“I knew her well enough. Same thing with Ty. He might have been cute, but he had no class at all. Anyway, enough of this. It’s over and done. There’s no sense going over the same ground twice.”

“I agree. We can’t change the past. No matter what went down, we’re accountable.”

“Exactly.” Kathy reached for the bottle and topped off her wine, wiping her mouth against the back of her hand. “Lola says I should talk to that divorce attorney from San Luis Obispo. Stanley Blum. He’s a real shark according to her. He charges a fortune, but he’s good. She says I gotta fight back, and I better be quick.”

“You remember Moral Rearmament?”

“Ha. You’re talking to the all-time champ here. Moral Rearmament was my middle name.”

“You still think it’s right? Absolute Honesty?”

“Are you kidding? Of course.”

“And that’s what friends do, help one another when we stray from the path?”

Kathy rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Look, Lies, don’t think I’m unaware of your snotty tone. You can be as mad as you want, but I did it for you. I agonized-honestly-but I had to follow my conscience. I make no apology for that so I hope you’re not waiting for one. You want to blame me? Well, fine, you go right ahead, but you should be thanking me instead. What if you’d ended up married to the guy? Have you ever thought about that?”

“Aren’t you even sorry?”

“Haven’t you heard a word I said? I’m not going to apologize for doing what I thought was right. I didn’t want you making a mistake you’d regret for the rest of your life.”

“Never mind. All right. I get that.”

“At long last.”

“I guess, if it came down to it, I’d do the same for you.”

“I know you would and I appreciate your saying that. You’re a good friend.” Kathy leaned forward as though to hug her, but Liza remained upright and Kathy was forced to convert the gesture into something else. She brushed a speck from her skirt and then took another sip of wine with a hand that trembled slightly.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“Pardon?”

“I did the same thing for you. You meddled in my life so I decided I should meddle in yours.”

Kathy lowered her glass.

Liza’s tone was mild but her gaze was unwavering. “I called Winston this afternoon. I told him about Phillip.”

“You told him?”

Liza laughed. “I did. Every last detail.”

I hadn’t meant to stay at Liza’s as long as I did, but once Kathy left, we had to sit and do a postmortem. Liza seemed lighter and freer than I’d ever seen her. We laughed and chatted until I happened to glance at my watch. 8:39. “Wow, I gotta get out of here. I didn’t realize it was so late. Where’s the sheriff’s substation?”

“It’s on Foster Road over by the airport. Here, I’ll draw you a map. It’s not hard,” she said. “The quickest route is to cut down from Highway 166 to Winslet Road on Dinsmore.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen that,” I said.

Liza drew a crude map on a paper napkin. The scale was off, but I got the general idea.

I tucked the napkin in my pocket. “Thanks. As soon as I get this last piece of information, I’m heading over there. I trust they have a copier. The originals are Daisy’s, but I want one set for my files and one set for theirs.”

“You’ll be driving home after that?”

“I have to. I’ve got a stack of files on my desk, plus mail, plus calls to return. If I don’t get back to work, I won’t eat this month.”

We hugged quickly. When I left, she was standing in the doorway, silhouetted in the light from the living room. She watched until I was safely in my car and then she waved. I started the engine and pulled away from the curb, taking another quick peek at my watch. Mrs. Wyrick struck me as a stickler for punctuality, someone who’d lock the door and turn the lights out if you were one minute late. She’d love nothing better than to shut me down.

The temperature had dropped and the night was considerably colder than it had been when I left Daisy’s. I sped over to Main Street, which turned into Highway 166. Traffic was light and once I had Santa Maria at my back, the darkness stretched out in all directions-broad fields of black rimmed in lights where a house or two backed up to the empty land. The air smelled damp. My headlights cut a path in front of me into which I rushed. I had only a rough idea how far away she was. This section of the county was uncomplicated, five or six roads that ran in straight lines, cattywumpus to one another so that they occasionally intersected. I was currently heading toward the ocean, which was somewhere ahead, fenced off by a low rim of hills marked in darker black against the gray-black of the sky.

Now and then I passed an oil rig and farther on a huge storage tank, lighted from below as though to emphasize its mass. Barbed-wire fences ran on both sides of the road. I could see the ghosts of irrigation pipes zigzagging across a field where the available moonlight picked out the lines of PVC in white. A stand of frail pines was the only feathery interruption to the skyline. I caught a flash of bright blue-Mrs. Wyrick’s house, a hundred feet off the highway and planted in the middle of a junkyard.

I slowed and turned onto the rutted dirt driveway. She lived in a landscape of rusted farm equipment, disabled vehicles, piles of lumber, wood pallets, and scrolls of chicken-wire fencing. This was apparently where old bathroom fixtures came to die once the renovations were done. I could see sinks, toilets, and upended bathtubs. In another area, sections of wrought-iron fencing had been laid against a wooden shed. There were sufficient discarded iron gates to enclose a pasture if you soldered them together side by side.

There was a doghouse, of course, and chained to it, a heavy-chested brindled pit bull. The dog’s choke collar made its bark sound like whooping cough was on the rise. I thought about Jake’s pit bull killing Violet’s toy poodle and hoped this dog was properly secured.

There was no place to park, but a hard-packed dirt lane encircled the house, where I could see lights still burning. I pulled in beside a vintage truck up on blocks, wheels gone, its black tailgate down. I killed the engine and got out. I kept my attention half-turned on the pit bull while I picked my way to the front porch. The wooden steps creaked emphatically, which threw the pit bull into a frenzy. The dog lunged repeatedly with such force that the shuddering doghouse humped closer by a foot. Looking out across the yard, I could see a number of old cars dotting the landscape. Maybe Mrs. Wyrick sold salvaged auto parts along with all the other junk.

The top half of the front door was glass, with a panel of cloth that might have once been a dish towel concealing the rooms from view. The sound from a television set suggested a sitcom in progress. When I knocked, the glass windowpane rattled under my knuckles. After a moment, Mrs. Wyrick peered out and then she opened the door. The overhead light was on in the living room and a brightly lighted kitchen was visible beyond it.

She was softer than I’d imagined her. When I’d spoken to her on the phone, I’d pictured a harridan, stooped, not quite clean, with flyaway white hair, rheumy eyes, and bristles on her chin. She’d mentioned her shed, and I had images of a crone who’d been saving Life magazines since 1946. I envisioned a house filled with newspapers, head-high, with narrow walkways between, stray cats, and filth. The woman who greeted me had a round, doughy face. Her body looked spongy, rising and swelling as she moved until the flesh filled all the little nooks and crannies in her dress. She may have had some fermentation action under way as well because the snappishness I’d encountered on the phone had now mellowed. She seemed vague and irresolute, and she smelled like those bourbon balls people give you at Christmastime. She was eighty-five if a day.

The minute she saw me, she turned and lumbered back to her easy chair, leaving me to close the door. The rise and fall of a laugh track churned the air, not quite camouflaging the fact that nothing being said was funny in the least. “Did you take out the garbage?” Screams of laughter. “No, did you?” The more witless the line, the more hilarious was the outbreak of merriment. Mrs. Wyrick picked up the remote and lowered the sound. I spotted the half-empty pint of Old Forrester sitting on the end table near her chair.

We skipped right past all the social niceties, which was just as well. She was too looped to do much more than navigate from the chair to the door and back. I said, “Did you have any luck?”

Something flickered in the depths of her blue eyes-cunning or guilt. She picked up a folded piece of paper that fluttered lightly from the palsy in her hands. “Why do you want this?”

“Do you remember Violet Sullivan?”

“Yes. I knew Violet many years ago.”

“You must have heard that her body was found.”

“I saw that on the television.”

“Then you know about the Pomeranian in the car with her.”

“I believe the fella said a dog. I don’t remember any mention of a Pomeranian.”

“Well, that’s what it was, and I think the dog was one you sold. Is that the litter record?”

“Yes it is, hon, but I can only tell you who bought the puppy. I wouldn’t know anything about where the dog went from here.”

“I understand. The point is I suspect the man who bought the dog gave her to Violet and he’s the one who killed both.”

She began to shake her head. “No, now you see, that doesn’t sound right. I can’t believe that. It doesn’t set well with me.”

“Why not?” I caught a flash of light and glanced over my shoulder, thinking a car was pulling into the drive. The dog barked with renewed vigor.

Mrs. Wyrick touched my arm and I turned back to her. “Because I’ve known the man for years. My late husband and I were longtime customers of his and he treated us well.”

“You’re talking about the Blue Moon?”

“Oh, no. The Moon is a bar. My husband didn’t hold with alcoholic beverages. He never had a drink in his life.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions. Do you sell automobile parts?”

“Not for the kind of car you have. I heard you when you drove up. It sounded foreign to me. I may be deaf in the one ear, but the other one hears good.”

“What about Chevrolet parts?”

“Them and Fords and whatever, but I don’t see how that applies to this question of the dog.”

“May I see the paper?”

“That’s what I’m still talking over in my head, whether I should pass this on. I don’t want to cause any harm.”

“The harm’s already been done. I’d be happy to pay for the information if that would help you decide.”

“A hundred dollars?”

“I can do that,” I said. When I reached for my wallet, I noticed my hand was shaking. I had to get out of there.

She laughed. “I was just saying that to see what you’d do. I won’t charge you anything.”

“Then you’ll give it to me?”

“I suppose so since you drove all the way out.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

She held the paper out.

It was like the Academy Awards. And the nominees are… I opened the fold and looked down at the name, thinking about the presenter who pulls the card from the envelope and knows for one split second something the audience is still waiting to hear. And the winner is…

“Tom Padgett?”

“You know Little Tommy? We always called him Little Tommy to distinguish from his daddy, who was Big Tom.”

“I don’t know him well, but I’ve met the man,” I said. I thought about how rich he was now that his wife was dead, how desperate he must have been while she was still alive.

“Well, then I don’t see how you can think he’d ever do a thing like that.”

“Maybe I’m mistaken.” I could feel the fear welling up. I tucked the paper in my bag and put one hand on the doorknob, prepared to ease out.

She seemed to be rooted in place but fidgety at the same time. “He always said if anybody ever asked about the dog I should let him know. So I called and told him you were coming out.”

My mouth had gone dry and there was a sensation in my chest like a faraway electrical storm. “What did he say?”

“It didn’t seem to worry him. He said he’d drive over to have a chat with you and get it all straightened out, but he must have been delayed.”

“I thought someone pulled in just a moment ago.”

“Well, it must not have been him. He’d have knocked on the door.”

“If he shows up after I’m gone, would you tell him I was thinking of someone else and I’m sorry for the inconvenience?”

“I can tell him that.”

“Mind if I use your phone?”

“It’s right there on the wall.” She nodded toward the kitchen.

“Thanks.” I crossed the living room to the kitchen and picked up the handset from the wall-mounted phone. The line was dead. I set it back with care. “It seems to be out of order so I’ll just be on my way. I can probably find a phone somewhere else.”

“Whatever you say, Hon. I enjoyed the visit.”

I left by the front door, and the porch bulb went out as soon as my foot hit the step. For a minute I was blinded by the sudden shift from bright lights to darkness. The dog had taken up its barking, but he didn’t seem any closer to the house. I could hear the rattle of its chain as he paced back and forth. I stood there, waiting for my eyes to adjust. I scanned the area around the house. I spotted my VW, parked where I’d left it. There were no other cars in sight. The highway extended in both directions with no passing cars. I found my car keys and listened to them jingle as I went down the stairs. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely unlock the car door.

Automatically I checked the backseat before I got in. I made sure both doors were locked and then started the car, shoving the gear into reverse. I took my gun out of the glove compartment and laid it on the passenger seat, putting my shoulder bag over it to weigh it in place. I threw my right arm over the top of the passenger seat, my eyes on the path behind me as I backed out of the yard. I swung out onto the highway and shifted into first. All I had to do was reach the sheriff’s substation, less than ten miles away. I’d have to cut south from Highway 166 to West Winslet Road, then cut south again on Blosser, which Liza had penned in parallel to the triangle of land where the airport sat. Foster Road was close to the southernmost boundary.

The alternative was to take 166 straight into Santa Maria and pick up Blosser on the outskirts. The problem was Padgett Construction and A-Okay Heavy Equipment sat on Highway 166 between me and the town. My car was conspicuous. If Padgett were looking for me, all he had to do was wait for me to pass. I shifted from second to third, engine whining in a high-pitched protest. I tried to picture the roads that connected the 166 and West Winslet. There were three that I remembered. The Old Cromwell and New Cut were now behind me so scratch that idea. The one choice remaining was a road called Dinsmore.

I leaned on the gas until I spotted the sign and took a hard right-hand turn. It was black as pitch out here. I kept scanning for headlights, my eyes flicking back and forth from the darkened road ahead of me to the darkened road behind me, spinning away in my rearview mirror. On my right, lengths of thirty-six-inch pipe were lined up along the road, in preparation for who knows what. An excavator and a bulldozer were parked across the road. I was guessing they were laying gas lines, collection mains, something of the sort.

I was on the verge of making a U-turn when a set of headlights popped into view behind me, filling the oblong of mirror with a glare that made me squint. The vehicle was closing rapidly, coming up behind me at a speed far greater than I could coax out of my thirteen-year-old tin can. I pressed down on the accelerator, but my VW was no match for the car behind. I picked up a blend of silhouettes as the car swung wide and passed me with a crew of teenage boys inside. One of them tossed an empty beer can out the window, and I watched the aluminum cylinder bounce and tumble before it disappeared.

The red of taillights diminished and winked out.

A minute later, I saw a fork in the road ahead where Dinsmore split. One arm continued straight ahead and a second road shot off to the left. There was a row of four barriers across that arm. The devices were hinged like sawhorses with a two-by-four-foot panel across the top, painted in series of diagonal orange and white stripes. Each had a reflecting light on top that seemed to blink an additional caution. I slowed to a stop, remembering Winston’s description of the barriers he’d seen the night he’d spotted Violet’s car.

I had two choices: I could take the barrier as gospel, warning of repairs or obstructions on the road ahead, or I could assume it was as a ruse, drive around one barrier and straight onto Winslet Road. I flicked on my brights. I could see the front end of a truck parked about a hundred yards away. I understood the game. At that point the angle of the two roads was probably no more than forty-five degrees, the distance between them widening over the course of four hundred yards. Padgett could be waiting in between, biding his time until I chose one or the other. It really made no difference which I picked. I backed up and yanked the steering wheel hard to my right. I completed the turn, shifted from reverse into first, and headed back the way I’d come.

I checked my rearview mirror, expecting to see some sign of a vehicle. Nothing. I thought I might be okay until I heard the whap-whap-whapping of my tires. I struggled with the steering, which was suddenly clumsy and stiff, trying to control the car as the pressure in my tires diminished. I slowed to a stop. I was right. Padgett had stopped off at Mrs. Wyrick’s earlier that night. An ice pick would have been the perfect instrument to create four slow leaks. Not as dramatic as his tire-slashing methodology at the Sun Bonnet Motel, but he wanted to make sure I could drive on the tires for a while. At least long enough to find myself out here.

That’s when I saw the headlights behind me.

Padgett took his time. My engine was idling, but I knew I couldn’t outrun him. I wanted to open the door and flee, but I didn’t think I’d get far. Even if I ran as swiftly as I could across one of the wide dark fields, I wouldn’t be hard to catch as long as he was driving his truck. I reached for my handgun and pulled the slide back.

He pulled up behind me and slowed to a stop, his engine idling as mine was. He waited for a minute and then got out of his truck. He left his headlights on, flooding my car with an unearthly glow. He strolled along the road, coming up next to my car on the passenger side. He knocked on the window despite the fact that I was looking right at him.

“Flat tire?” His tone was conversational, his voice faintly muffled. I hated his smile.

“I’m fine. Get away from me.”

He leaned back and in an exaggerated display of skepticism as he checked the tires on that side. “Don’t look fine to me.” He rested his arm on the roof of my car, watching me with interest. “Are you afraid of me or what?”

I pulled the gun up and pointed at him. “I said get the fuck away from me.”

He said, “Whoa!” and put his hands up. “I believe you have the wrong idea, Missie. I’m here to offer help…”

I should have shot him right then, but I thought there had to be another way out, something short of killing the man where he stood. I simply couldn’t sit there and blast him in the face.

I stepped on the accelerator and the car jolted forward. This threw him off balance, but far from becoming angry, he seemed amused. Maybe because he recognized my fleeting moment of cowardice. I put the gun in my lap and pressed on at a much-reduced speed. I knew I was ruining my rims, risking a broken front axle, and god knows what else, but I had to reach civilization. As I shuddered my way forward, I could see Padgett shake his head, bemused. He ambled toward his truck.

He got in, shifted into gear, and followed me, taking his sweet time, knowing his vehicle was always going to be the faster of the two. My rims were now cutting through my tires, trimming off streamers of rubber. My rims ripped along the pavement, throwing up a rooster tail of sparks. The steering was almost impossible to control, but I hung on for dear life. We continued this slow-speed pursuit, Padgett riding up against my rear bumper, giving me the occasional quick bump just to remind me he was there.

I could see Highway 166 in the distance. It was 10:00 at night and there wasn’t any traffic to speak of, but there had to be a business open, a gas station at the very least. Cromwell was closer than Santa Maria and if I could make it as far as the highway, I’d head in that direction. Padgett had slipped his gear into neutral. I heard him revving his engine and then he popped it into first again and lurched into the back of my car with a thunderous bang. I clung to the steering wheel, my knuckles white with the tension of my grip. I spotted the construction site ahead, the bright yellow bulldozer and an excavator parked on the left. Padgett slammed into me twice, doing as much damage as he could, which turned out to be plenty. I smelled burning oil and scorched rubber, and something made a scraping sound every time my tires flopped around. Black smoke roiled across the rear window. My car limped along, like some sad, crippled beast while I listened to the screech of metal like the howling of the dead.

He tried another one of his gear-popping tricks, but he outsmarted himself and his engine stalled. He turned the key and I could hear the starter grind. Once the engine coughed to life, he backed up, veered around me and eased on down the road. I thought he’d given up, but that was just my inner optimist rearing her sunny little head. He pulled onto the gravel berm, cut the lights, and got out of his truck. I watched him as he proceeded at a casual pace, crossing to the bulldozer. He grabbed a handhold on the side and pulled himself up, using the track as a foothold as he climbed into the cab. He settled in the seat and leaned forward. He turned the key and the bulldozer grumbled to life. He flipped on the headlights and I watched him reach for the levers that controlled the big machine. I couldn’t figure out what his intention was-beyond the obvious, of course-until I spotted the mound of dirt in the middle of the field to my right. He’d dug a hole for me.

He was heading right at me. I braked and reached for the door handle. The engine died and by the time I turned back, he was on me. He laid the lip of the bucket up against the driver’s side of my car, making it impossible to open. He down-shifted and began to push my car sideways toward the mound of dirt. I couldn’t see the hole, but I knew it was there. The VW was rocking, sliding sideways, raw dirt piling up against the passenger’s-side door. I stuck the gun down in the waistband of my jeans and slid over into the passenger seat. I pulled back on the door handle and then shoved, trying to push the door open against the rapidly increasing buildup of soil and rock on the other side. This was never going to work. I abandoned the effort and cranked down the window, working as fast as I could. By then the dirt accumulating against the side of the car was almost to the window. I hoisted myself onto the sill, making a low sound in my throat when I saw how fast we were moving. Five miles an hour doesn’t sound like much, but the pace was steady and relentless, leaving me very little room to negotiate. I rolled out, kicking to free myself, barely managing to clear the car as it scraped past me and tumbled into the hole. The ‘dozer came to an abrupt halt while the VW hit bottom with a bang and a shudder that left the rear wheels spinning.

I staggered to my feet and headed out across the raw dirt field, hoping to make a wide circle back to the road. The ground had recently been plowed and the soil was broken into chunks that forced me to lift my feet high like a member of a marching band. Running across the rows was like running in a dream, agonizingly slow with no progress to speak of. Behind me, Padgett, in his ‘dozer, trundled along at a same nifty five miles an hour, easily cutting the distance between us. I tried veering left, but he had no problem correcting the direction of the ‘dozer, which proved to be remarkably agile for a machine weighing in at forty thousand pounds.

I pulled the gun from my waistband, for all the good it would do. In the time it would take me to stop, turn, and aim the gun, he’d mow me down. My only hope was to reach his truck, which I could see ahead and to my left. My breathing was ragged and my chest was on fire, my thigh muscles burning while the weight of my jogging shoes seemed to suck me deeper into the earth with every step. I headed left, stumbling toward the road at an angle while the ‘dozer behind me clanked and banged, metal treads leveling the very ground that cost me everything to traverse. The size of the yellow excavator was diminished by distance, but I knew when I reached it, I’d be on the road. I felt like I was wading, my own weariness slowing me as I slogged on, trying to gain sufficient ground to make a stand. The yard-high lengths of pipe on the far side of the road grew marginally larger and the yellow excavator began to assume its proper dimensions. I was just about out of steam when I felt a change in the terrain. I was on the hard-packed berm. I reached the asphalt and ran. Once I gained the protection of the pickup, I turned and rested my arms on the side of the truck bed to steady my aim. I could see Padgett work to raise the bucket. In that split second, I squeezed the grip safety and then I fired off four rounds. I had to be dead-on or die, because there wasn’t going to be time to check for accuracy and then correct my aim.

The ‘dozer rumbled on, continuing at full throttle. Its path was unwavering, its bulk aimed directly at the excavator. I backed up rapidly and moved to my left until I had Padgett in my sights again. He’d slumped sideways and I could see the blood pouring out of the hole that I’d nicked in his neck. The ‘dozer slammed into the excavator and Padgett tumbled forward. I stood and waited, holding the gun until my arms trembled from the weight. Did I consider approaching him with an eye to rendering first aid? Never crossed my mind. I lowered the gun, went around the truck, and got in on the driver’s side. I put the gun on the seat and reached for the keys he’d left in the ignition. The truck started without complaint. I dropped it into first and headed toward the lights along the 166.