I felt the blood leave my chest. ‘What does he look like?’
‘I don’t know. Old.’
I didn’t know whether to be gratified or irritated.
‘How old?’
‘Your age… maybe.’
‘Maybe?’
‘Maybe younger.’
‘Big gut, smelly, bad breath?’
She laughed. ‘Noooo. Cute. Kind of. Nice ass.’
It was our general policy not to say the really bad words in front of Lucy, so I walked out on the front porch.
Molly finished her call fairly quickly and caught me as I was coming in.
‘Robert?’ I asked.
Molly glanced at Lucy, who simply shrugged. ‘Not really your business anymore, David,’ she said.
‘Is this the guy you were out with the night I called?’
‘The night you called I think I was entertaining the Miami Dolphins.’
With that, I made a fast exit for the den. An hour later the phone rang again. I had been reading without much concentration, thinking about getting ready for bed or making a drink or driving to Florida and finding Robert. Molly had already gone to bed, and I wondered if Robert had called back for some prearranged phone sex. Curiosity getting the better of me, I walked over and picked up the extension.
A young woman’s voice said, ‘Is Dr Albo there?’
Molly started to speak, but I interrupted. ‘I have it, Molly.’ Molly hung up.
‘Dr Albo?’ I thought it was Johnna Masterson’s voice, but there was an edge of excitement or fear that made me uncertain. I asked who was calling.
‘It’s Johnna.’
‘What do you want, Johnna?’ I said this without the pretence of courtesy. If Johnna Masterson had wanted to talk she might have tried the funeral home the night before.
‘I have to talk to you.’ She spoke in near-panic tones, shuddering and gasping at the finish.
‘Then talk.’
‘Not on the phone. I’ll meet you at the Denny’s on Washington Avenue in an hour. Please!’
‘Why would I want to drive into town? You won’t even tell me-’
‘It’s about Buddy!’ She sounded scared. It sounded like she was crying.
Was Buddy’s game coming unravelled? If so, Johnna might have the information I needed.
‘Please!’
‘One hour,’ I said.
I hung up, and went upstairs to see Molly. ‘Johnna Masterson,’ I said. ‘She wants to talk.’
‘Good for Johnna. Does she keep a diary too?’
‘This could be important. I’m going into town.’
‘Now?’
‘Why not now?’
The phone rang again, cutting off Molly’s response.
Molly snatched the receiver up and spoke softly, her voice mellow. ‘Hello? Yes. Just a minute.’ She set the phone between her cheek and shoulder. ‘Do you mind closing the door on your way out?’
Through the closed door of what was once our bedroom, I could hear Molly’s voice, though not all of the words. She laughed the way she had once laughed with me.
I spent most of the drive into town contemplating just what I had lost and wondering if by some miracle Johnna Masterson was about to offer me a way to get it back.
Over my third cup of coffee, watching the door and the sidewalk outside, I was still thinking about Johnna’s motives and what it could mean for my marriage when the waitress came up to my booth. ‘You Dr Albo?’ I said I was. ‘There’s a call for you. Lady said it’s an emergency.’
When I got to the telephone by the cash register, I heard Buddy Elder’s voice. ‘Hey, Dave. You looking for Johnna?’
‘Where is she?’
‘You’re not stalking that poor girl, are you?’
‘What do you want, Buddy?’
‘I heard a rumour today at the funeral home. They’re saying letter of censure. Good news, huh? Hope nothing happens to change their minds.’
‘Do yourself a favour,’ I said. ‘Get out of my life before I decide to kill you!’
At just that moment Buddy Elder decided to disconnect. I looked up and saw the cashier staring at me.
Why not? I had just threatened to take a life. I gave her a friendly smile, but I expect it looked like bad acting.
Chapter 21
I went to the house where I knew Buddy was staying. His car was not there, nor did he answer the door when I knocked. I drove to his old apartment close to The Slipper after that. That too was dark, no sign of his Mercury. Finally, late, I checked Johnna Masterson’s address in a telephone directory.
There was only a rural route number, so I could not find her place. I tried her home number with my cell phone, but there was no answer. On a hunch, I went out to Walt’s and Barbara’s place. Roger and his girlfriend were out as well.
Tired and frustrated, I went back to the farm and crawled into bed around three-thirty. When I got up late the next morning the horses were already out in the pasture. I found Molly upstairs installing the base-boards. ‘How was Johnna?’ she asked cheerfully.
‘She didn’t show up.’
‘Did you sleep with her too, David?’
‘She told me last night on the phone she wanted to talk to me about Buddy.’
Molly’s electric drill punctuated my answer. She stood up, walked to the next mark and set the screw. ‘I keep trying to figure out why everyone but you is lying.’
She gave me a pretty smile, and I could have sworn something had changed. ‘How many were there over the years? Just so I know.’
‘I’ve never cheated on you, Molly.’
‘Now see?’ She settled the drill on the makeshift worktable. ‘You say that as if it’s true, and we both know it isn’t.’
It had been a short night for us, though on that occasion Molly and I had spent it together. In fact, I had just started drifting off when I heard her tramping around the front room. I rolled over and saw this beautiful blonde wearing work boots and tight jeans, looking down at me in the gloomy first light of a Monday morning. This was how our third date ended.
‘Make yourself at home, professor. There’s food in the kitchen. The coffee just needs to be turned on. You want to see me again I’ll be home when it’s dark. You want to think about it for a few days like last time, that’s okay too.’ She bent over the bed and kissed my eyelids, something no one had ever done to me. ‘Just don’t think about it too long. You might hurt my feelings.’
I rolled out of bed and sat up. I told her I was just getting up myself. Molly laughed like one of her carpenter friends. She knew better than that! People with things to do got up at dawn. Poets and professors-in-training and used car salesmen could let the morning get away from them. I tried to pretend I was only a couple of minutes from sitting down to compose a little iambic pentameter while I drank my first cup of coffee, but all she did was laugh at me.
As she went toward the door I called to her impulsively: ‘Will you marry me, Molly McBride?’ Her step caught.
