“He attacked me.”
“Your face is all over the news. You have hundreds of police officers looking for you, and they all think you’re a cop killer. They’re not going to take you in alive. You’ve got to give yourself up. If you’re innocent, you don’t have any reason to be afraid-”
“I
“We’ll find you a lawyer.”
“A lawyer.” He practically spat out the word. “Yeah, right.” Then he hung up.
Moonlight had leeched the color out of everything inside the room: the walls, the furniture, the floors. Even the skin of my hands looked gray. It was as if I had woken up inside an old black-andwhite movie, a film noir.
Except that this was no dream. I crossed into the kitchen and snapped on the overhead light. The sudden brightness made me wince. At the sink, I splashed cold water on my face and rubbed it along the back of my neck until the hairs stood on end. I filled my mouth with water and spat it out. Then I braced myself against the countertop and faced my reflection in the window above the sink.
What should I do? I had a legal and ethical duty to report this conversation to the state police. If I didn’t, I’d be acting as an accessory to homicide after the fact. I could go to jail. But if I told the authorities about my dad being in Canada-and how was I to know he was really there?-I’d be betraying his trust. And beneath the anger he’d sounded so terrified. If I couldn’t get Sarah to believe he was innocent, what hope did I have of convincing anyone else?
I wandered back out into the living room and sat there in the dark for a while, looking at the telephone. But I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up.
Sarah rolled over when I came back to bed and half-opened her eyes. Her breath smelled of beer. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“I was on the phone.”
“Who was it?”
“Nobody,” I said. “Somebody thought they spotted a bear I’m looking for.”
15
When I awoke the next morning, I found Sarah already sitting up beside me, propped against two pillows. I had the feeling she’d been studying me while I slept.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“Not long.”
“You fell asleep pretty fast.”
She gave me a weak smile. “I thought I heard an owl last night.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“It sounded like an owl. It was in the pines right outside the house.”
“Did it keep you awake?”
“No.”
I slid up beside her.
“Mike,” she began. “I don’t know what happened last night.”
“I got you drunk and took advantage of you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Give me a little credit. I was the one who came over here. You don’t think I figured this might happen?”
“You figured right.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “This is so confusing.”
“No, it’s not.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means this was a one-time thing. We both know it. So let’s quit pretending.”
She sat up. “Why are you being such a jerk all of a sudden?”
I had no excuse for myself-except that in my messed-up logic, hurting her now seemed kinder than hurting her later. And I would hurt her later. I’d already proven that.
“I’m just being honest about the situation.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I’m not going to quit my job.”
“I never asked you to.”
“When you were living here, all you did was complain about being lonely and poor. You kept harping on how little money we’d ever have and how we’d never be able to travel abroad or have a nice house like Amy’s. And you’re right. We’ll never have those things. Maybe you should just find yourself a corporate lawyer to marry, like my mom did.”
She stood up. She looked blowsy and bed-headed and absolutely beautiful in the morning sunlight. “Fuck you.”
Outside I heard tires rustling on dry leaves, a vehicle coming down the dirt drive.
“Someone’s here.” I scrambled out of bed and lifted the curtain.
A green patrol truck came to a stop behind mine. Kathy Frost climbed out. From her expression I couldn’t tell whether she was bringing me bad news or good.
“Who is it?” Sarah asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of boxers and hurried out of the room.
Kathy did a double take when I yanked open the door. She looked me up and down, a smile spreading across her face at the spectacle of me in my underwear.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Good morning to you, too. Isn’t that Sarah’s Subaru?”
“She’s here. So what?”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
I stepped outside quickly, forcing her to move back. Then I shut the door behind me. “What’s going on, Kathy?”
“I just wanted to let you know I checked our trap this morning.”
“You what?”
“Yeah, I was up early. So I decided to drive over and have a look. No luck, though.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” I snapped.
“What’s the big deal?”
“It’s my fucking responsibility.”
“Cool down, Undershorts. I just figured you had enough on your mind without having to worry about a stupid bear. I thought I’d help you out.”
The door opened behind me, and Sarah came out. She’d dressed quickly and hadn’t even bothered to put on her sandals but clutched them tightly to her chest. “Sergeant.”
“Hi, Sarah. I didn’t know you were here.”
“It’s all right. I have to leave, anyway.”
“Sarah,” I said.
She brushed past me. “I’ve got to get out of here,” she said, climbing inside her car. “I should never have come back.”
“Don’t leave like this.”
She started the engine and put the car in reverse. She backed up so fast I thought she was going to clip Kathy’s fender. I watched the dust rise behind her as she disappeared down the drive.
“Ouch,” said Kathy.
She was still standing there when I closed the door.
I waited until I heard her truck leave before I sat down next to the telephone. I punched in the number and waited. The phone rang for a good two minutes before a man finally picked up. “Rum Pond,” he said.
