Susan Cray wasn’t sleeping; she was sitting up in bed, staring at a bulky old-fashioned telephone. When it rang, she knew who was calling even before she answered.
Ever since Wahoo was little, he and his mom had shared an unusual mental connection that was almost telepathic. One day, in kindergarten, he’d fallen on the playground and received a nasty gash on his head. Susan Cray had arrived at the school before the ambulance did-before, in fact, Wahoo’s teacher had phoned to tell her about the accident. Susan had confided to her son that a strange and anxious sensation had swept over her at work, and that she’d known instantly that he needed her.
The same thing had happened on the afternoon that Alice the alligator accidentally ate Wahoo’s thumb. Susan Cray had arrived at the house right behind the paramedics-and no one had called her about the mishap.
When she picked up the phone in Shanghai, the first thing she said was: “What happened?”
“Nothing, Mom. I just called to say hi.”
“Well, that’s very sweet,” said Susan Cray, “but I don’t believe you.”
“I’m fine. Pop’s fine. The job is going… okay.”
“But what?”
“I didn’t say ‘but’ anything,” Wahoo noted.
“You don’t have to. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Okay, there’s this girl-”
His mother groaned.
“Mom, come on.”
“I’m listening.”
“She sort of ran off with me and Pop.”
“Sort of?”
“Her dad beat her up,” Wahoo said.
Susan Cray was silent on the other end.
“Her mom’s gone. She didn’t have anywhere else to go.” Wahoo was still waiting for a response. When he didn’t get one, he said, “So we brought her along on the job. She’s out here in the Glades with us.”
Finally his mother spoke. “How old is your new friend?”
“She’s in my same grade at school.”
“Your father should have called the police.”
“He wanted to,” Wahoo said. “But if they locked up her old man, she’d be all alone. Mom, they live in the Walmart parking lot.”
“Get out.”
“I’m serious. In a crappy old RV.”
Susan Cray said, “The police wouldn’t let her stay there alone. They’d find someone to take care of her.”
“You mean, like foster parents?”
“Or family. Doesn’t she have any aunts or uncles?”
Wahoo said he hadn’t asked.
“Well, find out.”
“This wasn’t the first time it happened. Her dad, he drinks all the time.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s hard to listen to her tell about it.” Wahoo heard his voice quaver and he thought, What’s the matter with me?
His mother said, “She needs somebody to talk with. You have to be strong.”
“I know. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“She’s little, Mom. I don’t understand how a person could do that to their own kid. He slugged her with his fist!”
On the other end, Wahoo’s mother sighed. He could picture her expression.
“You can’t make sense of it,” she said, “so don’t even try. There are some seriously messed-up people in this world.”
Raven Stark reappeared at Wahoo’s side and tapped her wristwatch. He held up a finger, seeking one more minute on the satellite phone.
Susan Cray was saying, “When this job is over, you and your dad should take your friend to the police station so she can report what happened.”
“But the black eye might be gone by then.”
“They’ll still believe her. They’d better believe her.”
“Miss you, Mom.”
“I miss you, too, big guy. What’s her name? Your new friend.”
“It’s not important.”
“Are you kidding? Tell me.”
Wahoo braced himself. “They call her Tuna.”
Susan Cray laughed warmly. “Wahoo and Tuna! Maybe it’s fate.”
“I knew you’d think that was funny.”
“Hey, you’ve got to admit. It’s quite a fishy coincidence.”
“I’d better go now,” said Wahoo. “This lady needs her phone back.”
“Not before you tell me how your father’s doing?”
“Much better, Mom. Really.”
“Does that mean he’s behaving himself?”
“Well,” Wahoo replied carefully, “we haven’t been fired yet.”
The weather got worse, not better. One band of thunder-showers was followed by another, and then another. Late in the afternoon, Derek Badger emerged from his private luxury tent and glared at the roiling sky.
“Still no chopper?” he said peevishly to Raven Stark.
“It doesn’t look good,” she allowed, which was an understatement. The radar app on the director’s iPhone showed a series of flame-orange waves sweeping in from the west.
“The helicopter can’t possibly take off or land in this mess.”
“Then how am I supposed to get back to the hotel?” Derek protested.
Sometimes Raven was surprised by her own patience. “It doesn’t look good,” she said again. “We might be spending the night out here with the crew.”
Predictably, Derek pitched a tantrum, cursing and hollering like a brat. He drop-kicked a plastic bottle of mosquito repellent into the woods. He dumped a tray of turkey sandwiches into the mud. He snapped off a dead oak branch and hurled it wildly, inconveniently slicing a hole in his own tent.
And of course he vowed to fire the helicopter pilot for insubordination.
The childish performance ended abruptly when a spear of lightning struck no more than a hundred yards from the camp. Derek turned gray and retreated into his leaky quarters, where he cowered until nightfall.
Dinner was served late, during a break in the storm-braised chicken, wild rice, buttermilk rolls and a garden salad. The wondrous aroma was too much for Derek, who crept out of his tent and joined the others beneath the caterer’s canopy. The wicks of the tiki torches were too soggy to hold a flame, and no one had thought to stockpile dry wood, so the crew members built a fire using folding chairs that they tore apart with hammers.
After his third helping of chicken and rice, Derek croaked out a burp and asked, “What’s for dessert?”
“Cheesecake,” the chef replied, “with bing cherries.”
Derek beamed. “Hallelujah! Bring it to baby.”
Firmly, Raven said, “One small slice for you.” She was scoping out his gut, a bulging orb that threatened to bust the buttons off his safari shirt.
“Oh, lighten up, Mother,” he said. “After the terrible day I’ve had, I deserve to eat as much as I please.”
His attack on the cheesecake was a gross spectacle. Raven could only stare in disgust. The director and the cameramen turned their backs on the scene; someone broke out a deck of cards, and a game of gin rummy was organized.
