looked back at us from the front seat and smiled. The smile was
crooked, but the teeth were white and dazzling.
We pulled into the Shop 'N' Save lot, and all of us piled out. Casey
reached under the driver's seat and pulled out a green book bag with a
long strap and slung it over her shoulder.
'Get us a couple six-packs, will you, Clan? Steve, see if you can find
some decent crackers this time, okay?'
Steven held the door for us, smiling, then flinched at the blast of
cold air. I was the only one dressed for the air-conditioning. They
always overdo it in these chain stores. You could keep corpses back
there and they'd never decompose. Both girls were wearing shorts and
halters, and Steve had on what I came to know as his usual gaudy
Hawaiian-type short-sleeve shirt. With the thin white linen slacks he
looked prosperous and trendy and very cold.
I went for the beer.
I had to do some digging for the Heineken dark, so by the time I had
that and the two six-packs of Bud to the checkout stand, Steve was
already there ahead of me, paying for two boxes of crackers. 'See you
outside,' he said, shivering.
I paid for the beer, and as the girl was packing it up for me I saw Kim
step into line in back of the woman behind me. She had a large loaf of
french bread under her arm and some butter and was smiling And there
was Casey, walking out the front door easy as you please. From the
look of the green book bag, she'd stuffed it with apples and
watermelon.
I lifted my own bag and walked outside. Casey had already gotten in
the back, and Steven was starting her up. I handed her my bag and she
looked at me. The pale blue eyes were sly and humorous.
'You don't approve.'
'I don't disapprove, either.'
'We only steal from chain stores.'
'I suppose they can afford it.'
'And we only steal delicacies. Look.'
She dumped the book bag onto the seat. There were two big jars of
Icelandic caviar. Smoked sausages. Pates, liver and foisgras.
Cheeses. Oysters. Squid.
'We've got lunch, anyway.'
'We sure do. It doesn't bother you?'
'Why should it bother me?'
'It's your town.'
'But not my chain store.'
She seemed to relax a bit. I wondered if I'd just passed some sort of
test with her. I wondered how many more to expect, and how many more
I'd want to deal with. She stared at me a long moment more than was
comfortable. Then Kim came out to the car, giggling. She glanced at
the backseat.
'Good haul?'
'The best. Hop in.'
There was something in the tone of it. 'Hop in.' The words were
addressed to Kimberley, but I thought they were meant for me. I
guessed I was along for the ride. Something did a little two-step
across my spine.
'To the beach!'
'Ever go skinny-dipping out this way?'
Steven was doing an unhealthy seventy along the narrow, winding road,
but he still thought he had enough control to be able to shout at me
over his shoulder. He didn't. I leaned in close so he wouldn't have
to do it again.
'Not here. Over at Echo Beach maybe. There's a couple places at Bar
Harbor.'
'Why not here?'
'Police. They frown on it.'
'Fuck that.'
He turned completely around to face me again, half-smiling,
half-scowling. His wicked look.
Odd guy, I thought. I wondered what his connection was to the women.
There was the obvious urge to impress them. The loud colors. The fast
driving. He had a peculiar way of glancing at Casey no matter who he
was speaking to It wasn't just a matter of including her. It seemed
to have something to do with approval. He was a good-looking guy, with
dark, even features, sort of Latin and WASP combined. But there was
something insecure about him. I had the feeling that in a way he was
just as much a stranger to all this as I was.
You could make an educated guess that he was a bit hung up on Casey.
That would account for the sidelong glances. But then what was he
doing paired up to Kimberley? Certainly she thought they were an item,
even if he didn't. Her blond downy arm draped itself gracefully over
his shoulders as he drove. Every now and then her hand would move up
to play with the hair along the back of his neck or behind his ears.
When he spoke she listened very attentively. Her gaze was proprietary.
He didn't return it very much, and when he did, it was without heat.
I wondered how deep the bravado ran. I decided to call him on the
nudity bit. See how he reacted. I knew a beach where the stones were
pretty smooth and the waves rolled in easily somewhat to the north of
here. You could do a bit of swimming. It was secluded enough. Nobody
bothered with it much except the shell hunters.
'Take your next right,' I told him.
To be honest, I wasn't opposed to seeing how the girls reacted,
either.
We turned down an old dirt road and drove half a mile through the
Guiles farmland, then slowed down as the road turned rougher through
the dark pine forest that Van and I used to play in as kids.
Van was my older brother. He died in Nam when I was thirteen. It was
