Still there.
By now, he knows she’s gone.
I’ve got her, you bastard.
How could you do that to her? How could you take my Bonnie and drive a stake through her heart?
Larry stared at the computer screen.
His fingers went to the keyboard.
They jabbed the keys, and amber words appeared.
SOMEBODY OUGHT TO RIP YOUR HEART OUT, YOU MOTHERFUCKER.
Somewhere in the house a door bumped shut. Larry quickly backspaced, erasing the words.
Larry managed to write four pages after Jean’s return from the store, and was busy describing his clean- up of the garage when footsteps approached his office. He scrolled up quickly to clear the screen. A knock on the door. The door opened.
Lane stepped in.
His stomach shriveled, but he managed a smile.
“Hi ho,” he said. “I thought you were staying late.”
“So did I.” She shrugged. “Mr. Kramer had a parent conference, so I came on home.”
One hand was hidden behind her back.
Probably holding a gun, Larry thought.
But she didn’t seem upset.
“What’ve you got there?” he asked.
Her hand came forward. It held a chocolate chip cookie. “Fresh from the oven,” she said. “Want it?”
“Sure.”
He reached for the cookie. His hand was shaking. Lane noticed. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Hard day at the office,” he said, and took the cookie. “How was your day?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“You returned the yearbook?”
She frowned. “You said you were done with it.”
“Yeah. I am. Thanks a lot for the help. I owe you.”
Smiling, she said, “Right, you owe me. One pair of boots.”
“I don’t have to pick them out for you, do I?”
“Just lend me your credit card. I’ll take care of the dirty work.”
Larry laughed softly. “My wallet’s in the bedroom. Help yourself.”
When she left, Larry ate the cookie. It was soft, still warm from the oven. But his mouth was dry, and he had a hard time swallowing.
Twenty-three
When the public library opened its doors at nine o’clock Wednesday morning, Larry was waiting. He felt nervous, approaching the librarian. She was a young, attractive woman with a cheery smile. But he half expected to be shunned, thrown out on his ear.
She’s not psychic, he told himself. She has no idea I cut up the high school’s annual.
“I’m doing research on 1968,” he explained. “Would you have copies of the
Minutes later she produced a box of microfiche. She showed Larry to the reader-printer.
Yes, he knew how to use it.
The librarian told him there was a charge of ten cents per page for hard copies, and he could pay at the desk before leaving. Her name was Alice. She would be around and more than glad to help if he needed any assistance.
He thanked her.
She left.
Larry began his search at the June 1, 1968 edition of the newspaper. High school graduation had probably taken place around the middle of the month. Because of the ring, he assumed Bonnie had graduated. But he might be wrong.
The paper from Saturday, June 22, settled the question. Graduation ceremonies had occurred the previous night, and the list of eighty-nine matriculating seniors included Bonnie’s name. Photographs of the festivities showed the school principal, the head of the Board of Education, and two students who had given speeches. No Bonnie.
But he had found what he needed: evidence that she was alive and well as of June 21.
He pushed a button at the base of the machine. Seconds later a copy of the page slid out.
He went on.
He watched for Bonnie’s name. He watched for stories about murders and disappearances. But he kept his mind open, hoping to notice any story that might have a bearing, no matter how remote, on Bonnie’s fate.
The story he found in the July 16 edition wasn’t remote. Larry saw the headline and gasped. His heart thudded as he devoured the paragraphs.
TWO SLAIN IN SAGEBRUSH FLAT
Elizabeth Radley, 32, and her daughter Martha, 16, were brutally murdered last night in their rooms at the Sagebrush Flat Hotel. Their bodies were discovered by Uriah Radley, the husband and father of the victims.
According to a county sheriff’s spokesman, Uriah had yesterday driven into Mulehead Bend for supplies. During the course of his return in the evening, his truck broke down fifteen miles outside Sagebrush Flat. He traveled the remaining distance afoot, and arrived at the hotel at approximately midnight to find his wife and daughter murdered.
The nude bodies were discovered in their beds, both apparently having sustained multiple wounds of a fatal nature. The nature of the murder weapon, or weapons, has not been disclosed. Nor has it been revealed, as yet, whether the deceased were victims of sexual assault.
Uriah Radley was questioned by authorities, but is not being held in connection with the murders. No suspects are in custody at this time.
Larry read the article again. Incredible. Two murders at the same hotel where they’d found Bonnie. There’s
SAGEBRUSH HOTEL MURDERS
Authorities remain baffled by the brutal double homicide which occurred sometime before midnight this past Monday in Sagebrush Flat. Autopsies of the victims, Elizabeth Radley and her daughter Martha, revealed that both died from exsanguination, or blood loss, as a result of multiple wounds.
Authorities have few leads, and no suspects at this time.
According to County Sheriff Herman Black, “We’re of the opinion that they were victims of opportunity. That is to say, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sagebrush Flat was no place to be living. I’d warned the Radleys on several occasions about the dangers of staying there, now that the town’s as good as dead. For the past couple of years, we’ve had lots of troubles with undesirables vandalizing the place and generally raising Cain.”
The sheriff went on to point out that biker gangs had frequently used the town as a site for wild parties. During the past twelve months, no fewer than three rapes and half a dozen beatings had been reported as occurring in the town’s abandoned buildings, either at the hands of bikers or other transient types.
“It would be my guess,” said Sheriff Black, “that Elizabeth and Martha Radley ran afoul of some bikers. That’s a rough lot, and two women alone wouldn’t stand much chance.”
Uriah Radley, along with his wife and daughter, had continued to reside in Sagebrush Flat during the town’s decline and eventual abandonment following the closure of the Deadwood Silver Mine in 1961. In the resulting economic chaos, businesses shut their doors and the citizens migrated to greener pastures, many of them
