We'll Meet Again

64

Lou Knox was watching television when he received the summons he was expecting. Cal had warned him that he’d be driving a package out to West Redding, but he hadn’t been sure what time he would have to leave.

When he got to the house, he found Cal and Dr. Peter Black in the library. It was instantly apparent to him that they had just had a major row. Cal ’s mouth was a narrow, mean line, and his cheeks were flushed. Dr. Black was holding a large glass of what appeared to be straight scotch, and from the glazed look in his eyes it was obvious it wasn’t his first drink of the night.

The television was turned on, but the screen showed the deep blue of the video setting. Whatever they had been watching was no longer playing. When Cal saw that Lou was there, he snapped at Black, “Give it to him, you fool!”

“ Cal, I’m telling you-” Dr. Black protested, his voice a dull monotone.

“Just give it to him!”

From the table next to him, Black picked up a small box, loosely wrapped in brown paper. Mutely he held it out to Knox.

“Is this the package I’m to take to West Redding, sir?” Lou asked.

“You know damn well it is, Lou. Now hurry up.”

Lou remembered the phone call Cal had made this morning. This had to be the tape he was talking about with the ophthalmologist, Dr. Logue. Cal and Black must have been looking at it, because it was obvious the package had been opened and then rewrapped. “Right away, sir,” he said crisply. But not until I see what this tape is all about, he thought as he left.

He hurried back to his apartment and carefully double locked the door. It wasn’t difficult to open the package again without tearing the wrapping. As he’d expected, there was a videotape inside. Quickly he inserted it in the VCR and then pushed the PLAY button.

What was this about? he wondered as he studied the screen. He saw a hospital room-a pretty fancy one-with a young woman asleep or unconscious in bed, and a classy-looking old lady sitting next to her.

Wait a minute, Lou thought, I know who that woman is. She’s Barbara Colbert, and that’s her daughter, the one who has been in a coma for years. The family gave so much money for the long-term care building at Lasch that they named it after the girl.

The time the tape was made showed on the lower right corner of the screen: 8:30 this morning. Did this record the whole day? Lou wondered. Surely he didn’t have twelve hours on this one tape.

He fast-forwarded to the end of the tape, rewound a short way, then pressed PLAY again. The picture now showed the old lady sobbing, while two men held on to her. Dr. Black was bending over the bed. The girl must have died, Lou thought. He checked the time again at the bottom of the picture: 5:40 P.M.

Just a couple of hours ago, Lou thought. But this can’t be just about the girl dying, he reasoned. She’s been out of it for years, so they knew she was going to die some time.

Lou knew that at any moment Cal might come up the steps, demanding to know what was keeping him. His senses straining to hear Cal approaching, he again rewound the tape, this time going further back.

What he saw made him shiver. It was hard to believe, but there it was: the girl who had been out of it for years, waking up, turning her head, talking clearly, talking about Dr. Lasch. Then she closed her eyes and died. And then there was Black, telling the mother he hadn’t heard the girl say anything.

It was spooky. Whatever this was about, it was big stuff. Lou knew that. He also knew the chance he was taking when he spent precious time duplicating the last fifteen minutes of the tape and hiding it in the compartment behind the shelves in his apartment.

He was just getting in the car when Cal came out. “What kept you? What have you been up to, Lou?”

Lou was sure the naked fear he felt was visible in his face, but he forced himself to control it. He knew what he had in that tape, and the power it gave him. Long years of making deception an art form served him well.

“I was in the bathroom. My stomach isn’t so good.”

Without waiting for a response, he closed the car door and started the engine. An hour later he was at the farmhouse in West Redding, handing the package to the man he knew as Dr. Adrian Logue.

Almost feverish with excitement, Logue grabbed the package from Lou’s hand and slammed the door in his face.