against the back of his head, and told him, “Put your hands behind your neck.”
“ What’s going on? Is that a gun?”
“ Put your hands behind your neck, and link your fingers.”
“ Who the-”
Kagan gripped Ted’s hair and rapped his forehead on the bricks.
“ Ouch!”
“ Do what you’re told. Meredith, keep looking out the window.”
She took Kagan’s place in the chair.
Trembling, Ted obeyed Kagan’s orders and put his hands behind his neck, linking his fingers. His breath smelled faintly of whiskey, but his speech wasn’t slurred, making Kagan think that he hadn’t drunk any alcohol in a couple of hours.
“ What the hell is going on?”
“ Pay attention,” Kagan ordered. “Is anybody out there?”
“ What do you mean? Who’d be-”
Kagan rapped Ted’s forehead on the bricks, harder this time.
“ Hey, you’re hurting me!”
“ That’s the whole idea, Ted. Who’s out there?”
“ It’s Christmas Eve, for heaven’s sake. Plenty of people are out there.”
“ In the lane?”
“ No, on Canyon Road.”
“ I asked about the lane.”
“ It’s deserted. This far from Canyon Road, there aren’t many decorations. Why would anybody be in the lane? Who the hell are you?”
“ Hold still.”
Keeping his pistol against the back of Ted’s neck, Kagan used his injured arm and painfully searched him. He started at Ted’s right ankle, moving up his leg, probing his hips and groin.
“ Hey!” Ted objected.
Kagan ignored him, checking his left leg and then the rest of his body. He didn’t find any weapons. He did feel a wallet, but not what he was searching for.
“ The cell phones,” Kagan said. If he could get his hands on one of them, he could call for help. “You left here with two cell phones, yours and Meredith’s.”
“ How did you know that? Why do you care about-”
“ Where are they?”
“ Stolen.”
“ What?”
“ On Canyon Road,” Ted answered. “Somebody knocked against me and kept going through the crowd. Then I realized that my coat felt lighter. I reached in my pockets. The cell phones were gone.”
“ Somebody took the cell phones but not your wallet?”
“ In my coat pocket, they were easy to get, but my wallet’s under my coat. Meredith, who is this guy? How did he get in the house?”
“ Shut up while I decide if I believe you,” Kagan told him.
“ Why wouldn’t you believe me? I don’t know who you are, buddy, but this is between my wife and me, okay?”
Kagan’s instincts told him to let Ted keep talking, on the chance that he might inadvertently say something useful.
Ted looked imploringly at his wife.
“ Meredith, I swear I’ve never been sorrier for anything in my life. Whatever this guy wants, you and I can deal with him. But we can’t solve anything if you don’t forgive me. After what I did to you, I walked and walked. I felt so bad, I’d have stepped in front of a truck if Canyon Road hadn’t been closed to traffic.”
“ You can come to your hands and knees,” Kagan said.
“ Everybody was enjoying the carolers and the Christmas lights, but all I wanted was to kill myself.” Ted’s voice was strained as he glanced around the murky living room. “I don’t know what made me notice it, but I saw an old adobe building with a sign that said, ‘The Friends.’ It struck me as some kind of…”
“ Come to your knees,” Kagan ordered. “Put your hands in your coat pockets.”
Ted obeyed, shifting his knees to avoid the folds of his coat, awkwardly stuffing his hands into the pockets. He kept talking the entire time.
“ Think about it, Meredith. The one night of the year I surely needed a friend, somebody to straighten me out, and here’s this sign.”
Kagan remained at the side of the living room, away from the window. “You can stand now.”
In the shadows, Ted rose unsteadily, almost losing his balance because his hands were in his coat pockets. He seemed too nervous to stop talking.
“ I went in, and there were people sitting on benches along the walls of a big room. Nobody said a word. They had their heads down. I didn’t understand until I saw a plaque on the wall: ‘The Religious Society of Friends.’”
Ted paused. Again, he looked around the living room.
“ They were Quakers, Meredith. I remembered reading in the newspaper that the Quakers have a meeting hall on Canyon Road. The people with their heads down-they were praying. I sat on one of the benches and realized that it had been years since I’d prayed. I’d almost forgotten how to do it, and God knows I had lots to pray for. You. Cole. The strength to quit drinking.”
Ted kept looking around the living room. Although Kagan couldn’t say why, there was something about Ted’s behavior that made him uneasy.
“ After a while, they raised their heads and began talking with each other. Their voices were so peaceful. Their faces almost glowed. They looked at me as if I was the most welcome person in the world. One of them brought me a cup of coffee. They didn’t pry, but I knew they understood the pain I was in.
“ That’s where I’ve been all this time, Meredith, waiting to get sober enough to come home. I couldn’t help asking myself where my life was going and what I was doing to you and Cole and… Cole? Where are you, son? Are you okay?”
“ I’m here.” Cole’s muffled voice came from a corner of the living room.
“ Behind the television cabinet? What are you doing back there?”
“ Hiding.”
“ From what? Did this guy hurt you? If he-”
“ No,” Meredith insisted, cutting him off. “He didn’t hurt us.”
“ Then somebody tell me what’s going on.”
“ Three men followed me,” Kagan said.
“ Followed you? What are you talking about?”
“ Just shut up and listen. They’re tall. Heavy. Tough-looking. In their mid-forties. One of them has a face like it’s been chiseled from a block of wood. Thick eyebrows. A scar on his left cheek. A strong jaw. You’re sure you didn’t see someone who looks like that out there?”
“ I told you, the lane’s empty. I didn’t see anybody after I left the crowd on Canyon Road. Hey, put the gun down. It’s making me nervous.”
“ It’s supposed to. Keep your hands in your pockets.”
“ It’s too dark in here. I can’t see your face. Meredith, turn on some lights.”
“ No,” Kagan said.
“ Three guys followed you? What do they want?” Ted paused, seeming to focus his thoughts. “I’m sure I heard a baby crying. Where is it?”
Ted stepped to the back of the living room, glancing left and right. His eyes adjusted to the shadows. “Why are all these drawers lying in the hallway outside the bedrooms?”
Kagan followed as Ted moved toward the kitchen. He grabbed Ted’s hand when he reached to turn on a light switch.
