Flesh

“A yellow bug with a banner on its aerial?” Jake asked. He felt excited. He felt sick.

“I don’t know about the banner, but I’m pretty sure the car was yellow.”

“My God,” he muttered.

“What?”

“It was him. He tried to pick up my daughter this afternoon.”

A corner of Alison’s lip curled up. “Your daughter?”

“She ran away from him.”

“Jesus. She’s all right, though?”

“Yeah, fine. It threw a scare into her, but she’s fine.”

“How old is she?”

“Four and a half. She lives with her mother.” Jake wondered why he added that. He stood up. “It’s time I go after the guy, Alison. Do you have a place to stay?”

“The house,” she said.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, Professor Teal has a spare room downstairs.”

“The odds of Roland showing up are slim to none, I think, but until he’s accounted for…”

“You mean I need to disappear for a while?”

“Just to be on the safe side.”

“I don’t know. I guess I could check into a motel. I don’t have my purse, though.”

“You’re welcome to stay at my place. I’ll be out, anyway.”

“Thank you, but—”

“It’s comfortable. There’s food and drink in the fridge. And that way, I’ll know where you are and I won’t have to worry about you.”

She made a small, slightly crooked smile. “You’d worry about me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s nice,” she whispered.

Jake felt his face redden. “Well, you’re also our main witness.”

Alison picked up her coffee cup. It was still full.

They left Barney’s office and returned to the dispatcher’s cubicle. “Alison will be coming with me,” Jake said.

Alison set the cup on Martha’s desk. “Thanks for the use of the sweater,” she said. “And for helping.”

“No problem, honey,” Martha said.

Alison started to unbutton the sweater.

Martha held up a hand. “You keep that on, you’ll catch a chill.” Grinning, she added, “And you don’t want to give Jake any ideas. Not that he’s not a perfect gentleman. You can just send it back to me when you’re done with it.”

Alison thanked her again.

They left, and went outside to Jake’s car. Alison climbed into the passenger seat. Walking around to the driver’s door, Jake scanned the area. He saw no cars moving on the nearby streets. He saw no parked Volkswagens. He got in and started the engine.

“You didn’t notice anyone behind you on the way over, did you?” he asked.

“No. And I was looking. I was afraid he might come after me.”

“The shape you left him in, he’s probably not coming after anyone. He might very well be dead or dying by now.”

“I hope so,” she muttered.

“I’d like to find him alive,” Jake said. Find him dead, he thought, and you probably won’t find the damn snake-thing. It’s got no use for a dead man. The fucker’ll pull a disappearing act and turn up in someone else and you’ll be back to square one.

Jake watched the rearview mirror as he drove. The road behind him appeared clear, but Roland could be staying far back with the headlights off.

Jake turned onto a side street, killed his lights, and swung to the curb. “We’ll wait here for a while,” he said.

“Fine.”

He shut off the engine. He smiled at Alison. “I’m sure we’re not being followed. This is just a precaution.”

He glanced at her bare legs. Her negligee was very short. Her open hands rested on her thighs as if to hold the gown down. An awareness came to Jake, suddenly, that he was alone in the car with a very attractive young woman who was no doubt naked except for the skimpy nightgown and Martha’s sweater. And he was taking her to his home. The awareness gave him a warm feeling that threatened to become more than that.

Watch yourself, he warned. The last thing she needs is to get the idea that you’re getting turned on.

Turned on? Forget it, Corey.

He rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants, and looked at the side mirror. “Looks all right,” he said.

Though he felt sure that Roland wasn’t tailing them, he decided to take a roundabout course to his house. He knew that he should make the trip as fast as possible, drop her off, and start searching for Roland.

But he wasn’t eager to find Roland.

And he wasn’t eager to get rid of Alison.

She was very quiet. Jake wondered what was going on in her mind. Nothing pleasant, probably. She’d gone through hell tonight. Most people never have to face such an ordeal. If they do, they often don’t survive to cope with the emotional trauma.

“Things must look pretty bleak,” he said.

Alison turned to him. “I’m alive,” she said. “I feel pretty lucky.”

“It took a lot more than luck.”

“I don’t know if I deserve it, though. I mean, why me? This must be how people feel when they survive an airline crash. Kind of guilty that they’re still alive when so many others aren’t.”

“I suppose so,” Jake said. “Do you have classes tomorrow?”

“I’ll probably cut them. I don’t think I could handle sitting in a classroom.”

“That’s probably best. I hope this will all be over by then, but if it’s not I won’t want you going anywhere. You and I will be the only ones who know where you are, and I’d like to keep it that way until further notice, okay? That’s the only way we can be certain you’re secure.”

“No one to tell,” she said.

“What about your parents?”

“They’re in Marin County.”

“You could call them if you want.”

“No reason to stir them up. They’d go hysterical on me.”

“Boyfriend?” Smooth, Jake thought. Slipped it right in. He felt vaguely ashamed of himself.

“We broke up,” she said. “Tonight, as a matter of fact. It’s been a banner night.” After a few moments of silence, she added, “I should probably phone him in the morning, let him know I’m okay.”

“Fine. Just don’t tell him where you are.”

“Fat chance of that.”

Jake saw his house just ahead. He decided to circle the block before taking Alison in. Just as a precaution, he told himself.

“You don’t think someone sent Roland over?”

“No, nothing like that. He could get to someone, though. If nobody knows where you are, nobody can tell him.”

“There’s more to this than you’re letting on, isn’t there?”

Jake hesitated, then answered, “Yes.”

“And it has something to do with Roland’s back.”

“You’re sharp,” Jake said, smiling at her.

“Must be pretty bad, if you’re afraid to tell me.”