eye shadow during her frantic phase and she thought she might have overdone it.
“I wondered at first if you knew who I was,” she said. “I mean, seeing me out of context, sort of Without my uniform.” She was wearing her robin’s egg blue blouse with the scoop neck that accentuated her cleavage. She could see his eyes wander to the edge of the neckline. She leaned forward, revealing just a bit more of her flesh.
“I knew you… Helen. My mind was elsewhere for a while, that’s all.”
“I understand,” she said. “You weren’t expecting me.”
“In a way, I think I was,” he said.
His arm was resting atop the back of the sofa. With a show of pushing the hair from her face, Helen moved her own arm to the sofa back and let her hand come to rest inches from his fingertips.
“I’ve been thinking about this afternoon, so much,” she said. “So much.”
Dyce moved his fingers the few inches until they touched the tips of hers. Helen could feel the electricity of it. She gasped slightly, then laughed nervously.
Dyce smiled at her again with that peculiar smile. His eyes were alive with a life of their own.
Chapter 5
She just started talking on the telephone, assuming she would be recognized. It was one of Becker’s pet peeves and he played with the notion of asking who the hell she was. There was no particular reason for him to recognize her voice-but he did. And how had she known he would? Or did she usually start like this, as if she were always in mid-conversation?
“I’ve been trying to reach you for the past day and a half I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I was in Washington, yesterday.”
“Really? Washington?”
She paused, waiting for him to explain, which also annoyed Becker. “I went there to see a shrink.”
“That’s a long way for a shrink.”
“He’s a special shrink.”
“Does that mean you’re a special guy, or that you’re especially screwed up?” She had seemed so sympathetic when he was dangling upside down on a rope. Maybe that brought out the best in people. On the other hand, she had taken the trouble to find out how he was feeling. Nosy but concerned. Not the worst trade-off, he thought.
“It means I’m screwed up in a special way. How about you?”
“Just the usual way, I suppose, but I’m kind of proud of it.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “Does it have to do with the way you relate to other people and your feelings of guilt and aggression and codependency and your inability to form a truly lasting bond with another human being?”
“No. My fear of heights. Alan and I are going up again today. I just thought I’d let you know if you wanted to join us.”
“I got the impression last time that Alan was a little annoyed that I spoiled the party.”
“Alan was just upset because during your three minutes of crisis he wasn’t the center of attention. We’re starting around two so the sun won’t be in our eyes. Okay?”
“If I’m not there, start without me.”
“We will.” She hung up without saying good-bye. Another thing that annoyed Becker.
Alan had found a new route that obliged him to hang upside down for a distance of five feet before restoring himself to the merely vertical. Going straight up at ninety degrees was bad enough, but one hundred twenty seemed to be pushing beyond stupidity into lunacy. Becker was not even sure that a fly could handle an outcropping like the one Alan was negotiating as Becker arrived. Cindi was halfway up the rockface, spread-eagled against the stone as if she’d been staked out for torture, but calmly watching Alan perform. Becker was relieved to see Tee’s cop car parked alongside the highway; if he talked to Tee long enough maybe Cindi and Alan would get to the top and Becker could tackle the more conventional route up. If he went up at all. His bones ached just thinking about it.
As he approached Tee, Becker realized there was someone else in the car.
“Mick Seeger’s wife,” Tee said with a great show of innocence.
“Oh, subtle. Widows and orphans.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here, did I? We were just passing by. I saw your friend hanging up there like a chandelier; it’s free entertainment, and I don’t know how it’s going to come out. I didn’t think you’d be here after that spill.”
“Uh-huh. How long have you been waiting?”
“Just got here. Swear to God, John…”
“Good thing God isn’t listening to you anymore. Tee. You’d be in big trouble.”
“Laurie, come on out here and say hello to John Becker. John’s the man I was telling you about.”
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Becker. Thank you so much.”
She was about Cindi’s age, maybe a year or two younger, but she seemed to be from a different generation, one in which innocence still existed. Mick Seeger had married a baby, thought Becker.
“I’ve been so worried, I just can’t tell you. Mickey and I haven’t been apart for even a day since we got married and now…”
Her face quivered with the effort to keep from crying. Becker thought she was the kind of woman for whom tears were never very far away.
Becker looked angrily at Tee, but the policeman was innocently watching the climbers.
“Tee tells me you’re so good at it,” Laurie said.
“Tee doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.”
She laughed, as if the notion of Tee not knowing everything were hilarious. So young, Becker thought. Married, a mother, and so young.
“Have you been watching these climbers long?”
“Not long,” Tee said quickly.
“Only about twenty minutes,” said Laurie. “Tee said you’d be here soon.”
“I was driving Laurie to the gynecologist. My wife and I didn’t think she should be alone at a time like this.”
“Nothing wrong at the doctor’s, I hope,” Becker said, knowing he shouldn’t.
Laurie looked shyly away. “No,” she said.
“Laurie’s pregnant again,” Tee offered happily, watching Becker.
Becker rolled his eyes to the sky. It was bad enough being manipulated, but Tee was so clumsy at it he made Becker feel like a puppet with some strings broken. Tee was tugging like crazy at the ones that remained.
“Oh, I wish you hadn’t told him. Tee,” Laurie said. “I wanted Mickey to be the first to hear the good news.”
“Sorry, honey,” said Tee. “But Mickey will be just as happy to hear it.”
She started to cry again. “I just hope he isn’t hurt. If he doesn’t want to be with me anymore, I can… I just can’t stand the idea of him being hurt somewhere.”
“I’m sure he’s okay, Laurie,” said Tee.
“Maybe he just lost his memory. That happens, doesn’t it? People just forget who they are for a while? Doesn’t that happen, Mr. Becker?”
Not in my experience, Becker thought, not that he cared to share that with Laurie, particularly given her condition.
“That happens sometimes,” he said.
“Do you think it will take you a long time to find him?”
“That depends on Tee.”
