Serpent's kiss

R-i-c didn't tell you all you needed to know. Anyway, Jeff always worked in some reference to Ric in their conversations and every time he did Andy got tight. Real tight. It was a crime against nature and for Jeff's own sake Andy wanted to punch Ric's face in and then tell him to go join the Marines and leave Jeff alone.

All these thoughts had been brought up earlier tonight when the two men had taken their late coffee break together. One of the security guards had come down with flu so Andy was spelling him and there was no way he was going to put in an eighteen-hour day without plenty of breaks. So, anyway, shaggy-haired Jeff had eaten his apple while ample-bellied Andy had snarfed down his Twinkie (he figured it was okay to cheat on his blood pressure as long as his wife didn't find out). Things had been going fine, the two men talking about the Cubs (or the Cubbies as Andy always called them) and World War II (while Andy had never been in the armed forces, he did have the entire Time-Life World War II collection) and the tractor pull that would be going on out at the fair this summer. Everything was going fine. No mention of R-i-c.

And then Andy noticed the earring.

It wasn't a big earring.

No bigger than a pigeon turd, as a matter of fact.

But it was an earring.

And it was riding plain and bold in Jeff's right earlobe.

And the whole thing just frosted the shit right out of Andy.

'Whoa,' Andy said.

'Huh?'

'What's that?'

'What's what?'

'In your ear?'

At least the little bastard had sense enough to blush. 'Oh, Ric gave it to me for my birthday.'

'Ric did, huh?'

'Yeah.'

'You ever think maybe it was time for Ric to sort of move out and find his own place and leave you alone?'

'He's a nice guy.'

Andy stared at him, the way he would at his own son. 'I think you're a fine young man, Jeff.'

He could see how nervous this all made Jeff.

'I appreciate that, Andy.'

'But that doesn't mean I approve of everything you do. You understand what I'm trying to say?'

And Jeff, embarrassed and uneasy, dropped his gaze. 'I understand, Andy.'

'You don't want folks to start makin' fun of you, do you?'

Jeff just sort of vaguely shook his head.

'Once they see that earring, that's just what they're gonna start doin', I'm afraid.'

'You wouldn't make fun of me, would you, Andy?'

Andy could feel the young man's pain and suddenly Andy felt for shit and wished he hadn't brought it up in the first place. Maybe it was the kid's own business and maybe Andy should just keep his mouth shut.

And it was then the phone rang and Andy leapt to it with a gratitude that was impossible to contain.

Gratitude till he heard who it was. Frank Dvorak. The same front gate guard who had let Dobyns escape.

'Yes, Frank, what is it?' Andy knew that he should have been over his mad by now, but he wasn't. Couldn't get over it.

'I thought I should tell you somethin'.'

'What?'

'There's somebody down by the garage. Can't make out who it is. Maybe Dobyns.'

'Can't you go check?'

'I'm waiting for a call.'

Andy sighed: Can't leave the gate. Waiting for his goddamn girl friend again. 'You want me to check it out?'

'If you wouldn't mind.'

Goddamn Dvorak wanted to be petted like a dog.

'Okay,' Andy said. He hung up and turned to Jeff. 'You're always saying your job gets dull. You want to try mine for a while?' Maybe being a security guy would make a man out of Jeff yet.

'Really?' Jeff said.

'Really.'

'Great!' Jeff said. He polished off the last of the diet Pepsi, got up from the wobbly plastic table, took his empty food wrappers over to the communal garbage can, and then joined Andy on his way to the elevator that would take him to the basement parking garage adjacent to the tower.

Two and a half minutes later, the elevator door rolled open and yellow light spilled into the dark garage, touching on the fenders and grills of the hospital vehicles. The concrete garage smelled of dampness and car oil.

When the elevator door closed, Andy snapped on his flashlight, leading the way through the gloom. 'You still glad you came?'

Jeff laughed. 'Sure. Am I supposed to be scared or something?'

'It's pretty dark down here.'

'I'll be fine, Andy. Honest.' There was a laugh in his voice.

When they reached the middle of the garage, Andy stopped and shone his light down a wide row of vehicles that was four deep. Somebody could easily be hiding between the cars.

Andy drew his Magnum.

'Stay right by me,' Andy said.

'You really think Dobyns came back here?'

'Guess we'll have to ask him if we run into him, huh?'

'Guess so.'

They took a few more steps and then Andy heard the noise.

He crouched down in front of a panel truck, waving for Jeff to crouch down, too.

Andy killed his light.

The moon lay a thin veneer of cold silver over half the garage. All the vehicles looked like slumbering animals inside the vast cage of wire mesh that ran across the back windows of the big garage.

'You wait here,' Andy said.

'How come?'

'For Christ's sake, Jeff, just do what I say.'

Andy still wasn't sure what he'd heard. His first inclination was to say that it was a car door squeaking open and shut.

Whoever it was-and Jeff had a good point, why would Dobyns come back to the hospital? — may have just climbed into a vehicle to hide.

Andy spent the next five minutes walking up and down the dark aisles between cars and trucks. His rubber soles squawked loudly against the damp concrete floor and his light seemed to grow fainter, particularly as the beam was lost in the shadowy confines of a back seat.

Several times he paused to listen but all he heard were the sounds of the night and of his own breathing. He was getting a little old for this kind of thing. His weight and his bad heart didn't exactly make him an ideal guy for this sort of thing. He wondered how Jeff was doing, if the kid was spooked by now. But Jeff had more balls than Andy had given him credit for.

Then Andy found the station wagon with one of the side doors open. The wagons got taken home a lot and used by some of the more prominent staffers as temporary second or third cars.

Andy came even with the station wagon and began playing his light around inside. Back seat was empty, as