the same suit I’d seen him in the other day, came around the truck and opened the back door to free his son from the straps of the safety seat. I started walking over, looking down at the lawn as though I hadn’t even noticed him.
As we both neared the front door, I looked up and said, “Oh, hey. Morning.”
“Morning,” he said. His son said nothing.
“Just, uh… Joan told me to grab a coffee if I felt like it.” I felt like a damn fool. How had I allowed myself to be talked into this?
The door swung open and Joan stood there smiling, a mug already in her hand. “Well, if it isn’t the three strongest, handsomest men I know. Morning, Carlson! How are you today?”
The boy maintained his silence as he slipped into the house. Joan handed me my coffee. “There you go, neighbor. How are you today, Mr. Bain?”
He shrugged. “See you around six.”
“Okay then, well, you boys have a super day.” With that, Joan closed the door on both of us. Me standing there with a stupid cup of coffee as Bain started back for his Explorer.
No more, I thought. I won’t be dragged into this again. This has to be dealt with.
“Hey,” I said. “Wait up.”
Bain stopped and turned. “Yeah?”
“This is… this is awkward. Joan-Ms. Mueller-she’s been feeling kind of on edge lately.”
He looked instantly concerned. “She okay? She’s not gonna stop babysitting, is she? It took me a long time to find someone, and Carlson, he’s real happy here and-”
“No, it’s nothing like that. She… she has the idea you might be concerned about something with regard to your wife. I don’t know anything about you, Mr. Bain, and I don’t know what goes on in your home, but you need to know that Ms. Mueller never made any calls to anyone about-”
“What the hell are you getting at? What about my wife?”
I’d regretted agreeing to Joan’s stunt about the coffee, and was quickly starting to regret wading into this conversation. “All I’m saying is, if there are problems between you and your wife, if someone’s been to see you about rumors, I hope you’re getting the help you need, but you have to know that Joan-”
“I don’t know what the hell this is about, pal, but if you know something about my wife, and where I might find her, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise, mind your own goddamn business.”
That stopped me short. “Where you might find her?”
“Christie took off shortly after Carlson was born,” he said bitterly. “Ran off on both of us. I haven’t seen that woman in nearly four years. Carlson hasn’t seen her since he was four months old. He wouldn’t know that woman if she got her own show on the Disney Channel.”
THIRTY
I could have gone back and knocked on Joan Mueller’s door and asked her what the hell was going on, why she was playing me this way, whether she’d simply lost her mind, but I had a better plan. Stay as far away from her as possible.
When Kelly was eating her frosted flakes, I said, “After you get back from staying with your grandmother, you won’t be going to Ms. Mueller’s house after school anymore.”
“Why not?”
“She’s got enough kids to look after.” And I wasn’t so sure she should be looking after them, but I had my own problems right now. “We’ll check into an after-school program or something.”
“If I’m even at that school anymore,” Kelly reminded me.
I called Sally Diehl at the office.
“I don’t know when I’m going to make it in today,” I said. “I’m taking Kelly to her grandparents’ place.”
“Nice,” Sally said. “She’s getting a day off school.”
“She’s going to be off for a little while,” I said. “Change of scenery. I want you to call Alfie over at the fire department.” Alfred Scranton was a deputy chief, and the point man on investigations.
“Sure,” Sally said. “What’s up?”
“I was talking to someone last night about bogus electrical parts. Stuff from China or wherever, looks legit but inside it’s nothing but shit.”
“Daddy,” Kelly scolded me.
“Is this about the fire?” Sally asked. A tender spot for her, considering her Theo wired the house that went up in flames. But there was no shielding her from this. She worked in the office and everything went through her desk sooner or later.
“Yes,” I said. “I want to know if they had a close look at the parts that came out of that breaker panel. I want to know if they were the real deal.”
“Come on, Glen, Theo wouldn’t put stuff like that in one of your houses.”
“Sally, just make the call, okay?”
“Got it,” she said, but she didn’t sound happy. “You haven’t just got it in for him, have you?”
“How well do you know me, Sally?”
“Okay, I take it back. I’ll make the call.” Wanting to get off the subject, she said, “So what’s with Kelly? She okay? You pulling her out of school?”
Kelly got up, rinsed her cereal bowl in the sink, and left the room.
“Truth is, we had a bit of an incident last night,” I said.
“What?”
“Someone took a shot at the house.”
“What? God, Glen, what happened?”
I told her.
“I just can’t believe it. She okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine, considering everything. First her mother dies, then her friend’s mother, and then this. She needs a break from Milford. So, tell Doug he’s the main guy today. Any problems, you can always reach me on my cell.”
Sally promised she’d be in touch, and said to give Kelly a hug for her.
Kelly was standing at the bottom of the stairs with her travel case. “Sally says hi,” I said.
“Can you put this in the truck?” she asked. “I want to go check to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.”
That reminded me I had to call her school, let them know she was going to be away for a while. She’d already missed the start of class today, and we were likely to be getting a call any moment since I hadn’t phoned her in absent. I put in a call to the office, left a message on the machine.
I took Kelly’s case, went out the front door and around to the back of the truck. I dropped the tailgate, tossed in the case, and grabbed a three-foot two-by-four scrap that was lying in there. I had a collection of bits and pieces in the garage, and thought this a worthy addition.
I was headed back into the house when a black Chrysler 300 came to a stop across the end of the driveway. I didn’t know the car. But when the driver got out, I recognized him, even though we’d never met before.
I stepped into the front hall, leaving the door open a crack.
“Kelly!”
She appeared at the top of the stairs. “Yup?”
“Listen carefully. I’m going outside to talk to a man. Lock this door when I leave. Watch from the window. If something happens, call 911.'
“What’s going-”
“Have you got that?”
“Yes.”
I turned and she scooted down the stairs. Once outside, I listened for the sound of the deadbolt turning into position behind me.
