Then she remembered the voice on her digital recorder. She felt the blood drain from her face.
Maria halted, afraid that she was going to pass out. When the dizziness had passed, she hurried to the car. She climbed behind the wheel and handed the bags to Adam without speaking. Then she gave them each a bottle of water and started the car.
“Thank you,” Levi said. “You must have read my mind. I was indeed thirsty.”
“Yeah,” Adam agreed. “Thanks.”
“There you go,” she said. “You’ve got a new suit of clothes. Sunglasses and a hat, too. You’re a new man.”
“Cool shades.” Adam pulled the items out of the bags. “I really appreciate it. I’ll pay you back when I can.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Maria said. “You can pay me back by helping us out.”
“Should I change now, or wait till later?”
“Wait,” Maria said. “Let’s get this over with first.”
“We’re not far,” Adam replied. “Just a few more minutes.”
“I know the way,” Levi said.
“You were really at my house?” Adam asked him as they pulled out of the parking lot.
Levi nodded. “Yes. Right after your arrest and once since then. I was looking for the book.”
“The…people that live there now. What are they like?”
“They seemed like a very nice family. Husband and wife. Two kids. A dog. Good folk. I didn’t speak to them for very long, I’m afraid. Just asked them a few short questions.”
“That should have been us,” Adam whispered. “Me and Tara and Big Steve. That should have been us. The only thing missing were the…kids. We miscarried several times. That’s why, when Tara got pregnant after Hylinus, I just…”
He stopped talking, unable to finish. Moaning, he buried his face in his hands and wept.
“Adam,” Levi said softly, “I know that you are hurting right now. And I know this won’t be easy, seeing your old home. But I need you to keep your wits about you until we’ve retrieved the book. Then we’ll talk about this, okay?”
“You don’t understand,” Adam cried. “The ultrasound…the picture…the baby had horns! She said it was mine, but it had fucking horns, man! That’s why she tried to hide it from me. What was I supposed to do?”
Maria’s grip tightened around the steering wheel. She stared straight ahead, slowing as they approached a red light.
“I know,” Levi soothed the distraught man. “I know. But we need to focus.”
“It should have been mine,” Adam wailed. “I was supposed to be the father—not him! Not the satyr.”
“Which way?” Maria asked, stopping at the light.
“Left, and then straight through the next light,” Levi told her, turning back to Adam. “Mr. Senft, I need you to be with me. Put this behind you for just a little longer. Can you do that for me?”
Sobbing, his face still hidden, Adam nodded.
“Good.” Levi turned around again and stared straight ahead.
When the light turned green, Maria made the left. The streets were deserted. Levi opened his bottle of water and drained it without pausing for air.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“I’m fine.” He screwed the cap back on the empty bottle. “Tonight’s occurrence took a lot out of me, and I’m tired. That’s all. But I’ll be okay. I just need to prepare myself.”
Maria sipped her iced cappuccino. “For what?”
“For what’s to come. For what I have to do next. I like it even less than flying.”
“You don’t like to fly?”
“No.”
“I love it,” Maria said. “I always ask for a window seat.”
Levi shuddered.
They passed through another intersection.
“At the next light,” Adam said, “there will be a gas station on the left. Go straight through it and then, about twenty feet later, you’ll see the fire house on the right. Turn down that alley.”
Maria followed the directions. The gas station was closed for the night. As they drove by it, Adam pressed his palm against the window. His expression was full of grief.
