Twisted: The Collected Short Stories of Jeffery Deaver

felt that, haven't you? Like an omen? Like something happens and is telling you you ought to do this or shouldn't do that.'

Which was weird 'cause the whole time we were driving up to Liggett Falls, I kept thinking something funny's going on. I don't know what it is but this job's gonna be different.

'What if,' he said, 'everything tonight happened for a purpose? My wife had a cold so I went to buy NyQuil. I went to that drugstore instead of 7-Eleven to save a buck or two. You happened to hit that store at just that time. You happened to have your buddy' — he nodded toward Toth's body 'with you. The cop car just happened by at that particular moment. And the clerk behind the counter just happened to see him. That's a lot of coincidences. Don't you think?'

And then — this sent a damn chill right down my spine — he said, 'Here we are in the shadow of that big rock, that face.'

Which is one hundred percent what I was thinking. Exactly the same — about the Lookout, I mean. I don't know why I was. But I happened to be looking out the window and thinking about it at that exact same instant. I tossed back the scotch and had another and, oh, man, I was pretty freaked out.

'Like he's looking at us, waiting for you to make a decision. Oh, don't think it was just you, though. Maybe the purpose was to affect everybody's life there. That customer at the counter your friend shot? Maybe it was just his time to go — fast, you know, before he got cancer or had a stroke. Maybe that girl, the clerk, had to get shot in the leg so she'd get her life together, maybe get off drugs or give up drinking.'

'And you? What about you?'

'Well, I'll tell you about me. Maybe you're the good deed in my life. I've spent years thinking only about making money. Take a look at my wallet. There. In the back.'

I pulled it open. There were a half dozen of these little cards, like certificates. Randall Weller — Salesman of the Year. Exceeded Target Two Years Straight. Best Salesman of 1992.

Weller kept going. 'There are plenty of others back in my office. And trophies too. And in order for me to win those I've had to neglect people. My family and friends. People who could maybe use my help. And that's not right. Maybe you kidnapping me, it's one of those signs to make me turn my life around.'

The funny thing was, this made sense. Oh, it was hard to imagine not doing heists. And I couldn't see myself, if it came down to a fight, not going for my Buck or my Smitty to take the other guy out. That turning the other cheek stuff, that's only for losers. But maybe I could see a day when my life'd be just straight time. Living with some woman, maybe a wife, and not treating her the way I'd treated Sandra, living in a house. Doing what my father and mother, whatever she was like, never did.

'If I was to let you go,' I said, 'you'd have to tell 'em something.'

He shrugged. 'I'll say you locked me in the trunk and then tossed me out somewhere near here. I wandered around, looking for a house or something, and got lost. It could take me a day to find somebody. That's believable.'

'Or you could flag down a car in an hour.'

'I could. But I won't.'

'You keep saying that. But how do I know?'

'That's the faith part. You don't know. No guarantees.'

'Well, I guess I don't have any faith.'

'Then I'm dead. And your life's never gonna change. End of story.' He sat back and shrugged.

That silence again but it was like it was really this roar all around us. 'You just want… What do you want?'

He drank more scotch. 'Here's a proposal. Let me walk outside.'

'Oh, right. Just let you stroll out for some fresh air or something?'

'Let me walk outside and I promise you I'll walk right back in again.'

'Like a test?'

He thought about this for a second. 'Yeah. A test.'

'Where's this faith you're talking about? You walk outside, you try to run and I'd shoot you in the back.'

'No, what you do is you put the gun someplace in the house. The kitchen or someplace. Somewhere you couldn't get it if I ran. You stand at the window, where we can see each other. And I'll tell you up front I can run like the wind. I was lettered track and field in college and I still jog every day of the year.'

'You know if you run and bring the cops back it's all gonna get bloody. I'll kill the first five troopers come through that door. Nothing'll stop me and that blood'll be on your hands.'

'Of course I know that,' he said. 'But if this's going to work you can't think that way. You've got to assume the worst is going to happen. That if I run I'll tell the cops everything. Where you are and that there're no hostages here and that you've only got one or two guns. And they're going to come in and blow you to hell. And you're not going to take a single one down with you. You're going to die and die painfully 'cause of a few lousy bucks. But, but, but…' He held up his hands and stopped me from saying anything. 'You gotta understand, faith means risk.'

'That's stupid.'

'I think it's just the opposite. It'd be the smartest thing you'd ever do in your life.'

I tossed back another scotch and had to think about this.

Weller said, 'I can see it there already. Some of that faith. It's there. Not a lot. But some.'

And yeah, maybe there was a little. 'Cause I was thinking about how mad I got at Toth and the way he ruined everything. I didn't want anybody to get killed tonight. I was sick of it. Sick of the way my life had gone. Sometimes it was good, being alone and all. Not answering to anybody. But sometimes it was real bad. And this guy Weller, it was like he was showing me something different.

'So,' I said. 'You just want me to put the gun down?'

He looked around. 'Put it in the kitchen. You stand in the doorway or window. All I'm gonna do is walk down to the street and walk back.'

I looked out the window. It was maybe fifty feet down the driveway. There were these bushes on either side of it. He could just take off and I'd never find him.

All through the sky I could see police-car lights flickering.

'Naw, I ain't gonna. You're nuts.'

I expected begging or something. Or him getting pissed off more likely — which is what happens to me when people don't do what I tell them. Or don't do it fast enough. But, naw, he just nodded. 'Okay, Jack. You thought about it. That's a good thing. You're not ready yet. I respect that.' He sipped a little more scotch, looking at the glass. And that was the end of it.

Then all of a sudden these searchlights started up. They was some ways away but I still got spooked and backed away from the window. Pulled my gun out. Only then I saw that it wasn't nothing to do with the robbery. It was just a couple big spotlights shining on the Lookout. They must've gone on every night, this time.

I looked up at it. From here it didn't look like a face at all. It was just a rock. Gray and brown and these funny pine trees growing sideways out of cracks.

Watching it for a minute or two. Looking out over the town. And something that guy was saying went into my head. Not the words, really. Just the thought. And I was thinking about everybody in that town. Leading normal lives. There was a church steeple and the roofs of small houses. A lot of little yellow lights in town. You could just make out the hills in the distance. And I wished for a minute I was in one of them houses. Sitting there. Watching TV with a wife next to me.

I turned back from the window and I said, 'You'd just walk down to the road and back? That's it?'

'That's all. I won't run off, you don't go get your gun. We trust each other. What could be simpler?'

Listening to the wind. Not strong but a steady hiss that was comforting in a funny way even though any other time I'da thought it sounded cold and raw. It was like I heard a voice. I don't know. Something in me said I oughta do this.

I didn't say nothing else 'cause I was right on the edge and I was afraid he'd say something that'd make me change my mind. I just took the Smith & Wesson and looked at it for a minute then went and put it on the kitchen table. I came back with the Buck and cut his feet free. Then I figured if I was going to do it I oughta go all the way. So I cut his hands free too. Weller seemed surprised I did that. But he smiled like he knew I was playing the game. I pulled him to his feet and held the blade to his neck and took him to the door.