angry a few times, and even then, he didn’t do anything about it.”
“My editor at the Gazette was a great guy,” Kate said. “I saw him yell at just about everybody-from advertising guys he felt had crossed the line by approaching reporters, to the publisher for interfering.”
“Well, Laurence isn’t that,” Quinn said.
“Why did you come out here?” she said. “People would kill for a job at the Congressional Quarterly. You didn’t say why you left the other day.”
He paused before launching into the whole sordid story.
“My parents died,” he said. “They had moved down here from Pennsylvania and just loved it. But some drunk guy from Hillsboro hit them one night and they were gone.”
“God, I’m sorry,” Kate said.
“I moved into their house for awhile while I sorted everything out and I suddenly felt I couldn’t go back. I didn’t want to be in D.C. It was too self-involved and politics suddenly lost its appeal. It just didn’t seem to mean that much anymore.”
“I can understand that,” she said.
“So I sold their place and bought an apartment,” he said. “I couldn’t think of where to go and this just seemed right. So I stayed.”
They were approaching the Leesburg Inn.
“That must have been hard,” she said, “to lose both your parents.”
“It’s one of those things that every time I think I’ve moved on, I get pulled back. I’m not sure I’ll ever really move on.”
Kate nodded.
They stopped in front of the hotel.
“Well,” Quinn said self-consciously, and looked down at his shoes. “Here we are.”
Kate stopped and looked at him. “Thanks for walking me home.”
She wanted to say something more-about her own mother maybe-but she couldn’t. She felt overwhelmed by fatigue and didn’t want to think about it anymore.
“Sure,” he said. “I hope you’ll join us again.”
“Anytime,” she said.
And then she did something unexpected for both of them. Without thinking about it, she leaned in and kissed Quinn on the cheek. Startled by her own action, she pulled back a little, so that their faces were only inches apart. It felt like something electrical crackled in the air and she pulled away as suddenly as she had started.
“Thanks again,” she said.
And then she was through the door and out of sight.
Quinn stood outside looking up. He touched his cheek reflexively. Despite the cool October air, he felt warm inside, like he had drunk a gallon of hot coffee.
He walked home in a kind of daze, not really sure what had happened. There had been something, he thought. And whatever it was, it was powerful. Something had seemed to move between them and only time would tell what.
Across the county, Dee glanced at the waving branches around him and pulled his jacket closer to him. This place gave him the creeps. It had been Jacob’s idea, of course, and you couldn’t argue with him about something like this.
He twitched reflexively and rocked back and forth on his heels. It was cold, it was dark and he was tired. He wished again for a cigarette and reached in his jacket pocket out of habit.
But there was nothing there, and if Denise had her way, there would never be cigarettes for Dee again.
“Fuck,” he swore, and nervously watched as the wind blew through the trees again.
He didn’t like it, mostly because the way the branches blew out, it was as if some invisible giant was pushing them aside. It gave him the impression that things were happening all around him and he had no idea what.
“Fuckin-A, Jacob. Where the hell are you?”
As if on cue, he saw headlights appear around the curve on the side of the road. Why they had to come all the way out to Purcellville only God knew. Why they had to come out to the darkest, most isolated place in the goddamn county he was even less sure.
The cops here don’t care, Dee thought. They never have and they never will. Maybe they were dumb to it, or maybe they just didn’t give a damn. What did he care? Either way, there was no damn reason to come out here.
Dee watched as the car slowed down and pulled up next to his. He continued rocking back and forth on his heels.
Jacob practically threw open the door to his old Volkswagen Jetta and stepped out.
That was Jacob, Dee thought. Never does anything half way.
“What’s up, gee?”
It bugged Dee that some skinny white kid would throw around lingo like he was a brother or something, but he was used to it. His friends called Jacob a live wire and though Dee was confident he could kick Jacob’s ass, he also knew any victory would be short-lived. Jacob had friends and given who his father was, the temporary satisfaction of putting him down wouldn’t be worth it.
“Not much,” Dee replied.
Jacob came around the car and pulled a pack of cigarettes out. He held one out.
“Want a smoke?” he asked.
“Shit, man, you know I can’t,” Dee replied.
“Right, right,” Jacob replied. “That bitch Denise got you wound around her little finger, doesn’t she?”
“Don’t call her that, J,” Dee replied.
J is what Jacob liked to be called. Dee thought it sounded stupid, although he recognized the irony in that.
“Whoa, my brother,” Jacob said, and raised his hands in mock surrender. “No need to get angry.”
“I’m not your brother,” Dee said under his breath.
“What did you say?” Jacob asked, his tone shifting slightly to one more menacing.
But Dee was not afraid. Careful, but not scared.
“Nothing,” he said. “You got it, or not?”
“Well, well, why don’t we cut right to the chase?” Jacob said. “I might have it, but just one question. If she won’t let you smoke, how does she allow you to do this stuff?”
“That’s not your concern, man,” Dee said, and left it at that. He would meet Jacob on his terms, but he would be damned if he would let the little shit into his business.
“You aren’t sounding too friendly, Dee,” Jacob replied. “I can always take my wares someplace else.”
“We don’t need to go through this every time, J,” he said.
“Don’t treat me like your bitch, then,” Jacob said evenly. “If you keep on doing it, you could find yourself in trouble.”
“I meant nothing,” Dee said, but the words caught in his throat on the way out.
Jacob stared at him for a moment, apparently weighing whether or not to do anything.
“All right,” he said finally, and reached into his pocket.
It was then that Dee first heard the rumbling. It was low at first, a kind of rhythmic beating that he couldn't place.
Jacob glanced nervously about.
“You invite somebody?” he asked, glaring at Dee.
“Hell no,” he replied.
They both looked down the road near them. As far as either of them knew, there was never any reason to come out here. It wasn’t even a spot people picked as a make out place. It was too damned creepy.
The rumbling turned into a pounding and grew steadily louder, enough so that Dee could recognize it for what it was.
“Who the hell would be riding a horse at this hour?” he asked out loud.
Jacob shook his head.
