"Johnny and Tom went to Vietnam together. Tom wanted to go… he thought he was saving the world. My brother wasn't as sure, but he didn't want anyone going in his place. I mean, he thought we were on the right side of that mess, but he would have rather stayed home.”
Dan took a deep breath, then spoke the next part quickly. "Johnny looked after Tom over there, and a lot of other guys as well. He was a hero. Problem was, his squad was caught in an ambush and there was no one to look after him.”
On the verge of tears, Dan held himself together… barely, Kyle thought. "Sometimes you lose someone and, well, things are never the same. You are never the same.”
Kyle nodded. He thought of his mother. He knew something about that. He thought about Dawn. He had liked her. They had shared a connection, a small one, but a real one just the same.
And now he was running out on Stonewall. Running out on her.
"Well, tonight I told my brother's best friend that he's lost his daughter. Actually, I told him she was missing, but we know what that means in this town. His wife was there, so he said things were going to be all right, but I don't think they will be. I don't think Tom will be all right either." Dan shook his head. "What kind of place is this? What kind of people would do this?”
Kyle had an answer to that, but he didn't think it would help Dan to hear it. In fact, whatever his boss's suspicions were, Kyle knew Dan would be better off if he never found out what was really going on in his town.
Getting up, Kyle said, "Come on, you need some sleep. I can handle the cars in the shop for today.”
Dan nodded and allowed Kyle to lead him up and out of the office. "Maybe just a little, then I'll head over to Tom's to wait with him. Not much else to do.”
Kyle walked his boss around back and up to his house. At the door, Dan turned around and said, "Thanks, Kyle. Why don't you work on your van today? Take what you need from Johnny's van. Get yours running and get yourself and your friends out of Stonewall. Okay?" Dan's voice was stronger and clearer than it had been in the office. He clearly wanted Kyle to listen to him. "Okay?" he repeated.
"Sure, thanks," Kyle said, and turned to head back to the garage.
In the shop, there was only one car waiting. He checked Dawn's book and saw that four cars were due in this morning, but he wondered if they would show.
As he worked, Kyle thought about another group of kids traveling in a van more than thirty years before. They had shared the trip of their lives, but one of them would be dead a year later, leaving a brother who looked like he'd never really recovered and a best friend who would lose his daughter.
Tragedy. Loss. Were they waiting for Kyle and his friends at the end of this trip? Or would they not even wait for the end? Kyle knew he couldn't even begin to answer those questions now, so he did the only thing he knew he could do: He worked.
Max peeked into the diner for perhaps the hundredth time since they had started working. Liz and Maria were fine.
As he turned back to his work, he saw Michael staring into the front window as well. Michael looked away a moment later, and Max caught his eye as he friend did so. Michael shrugged, but neither one spoke. They didn't need to. They both knew what they were doing: keeping a close eye on the girls until they could get them all out of Stonewall.
Max thought that the prospect or running out on this fight should have shamed him, but he found that it did not. I'm not running, his mind replied on its own. He was protecting Liz and the others.
Once again, he wondered what kind of King he had been in his last life. What would that person think of what he was doing now? Had he loved Tess… his wife and betrayer… then as he loved Liz now? Would he have been willing to risk or sacrifice her? What about Michael? Or Isabel? Whoever he had been then, he knew he would not risk any of his friends now… and Liz least of all.
Maybe that made him unfit to be a King. That was fine… he didn't want the job. And by all accounts, he had blown it for himself, his friends, and his whole planet back when he was a King, anyway. For now, he would concentrate on protecting his piece of this world. If he couldn't save a planet, perhaps there was wise enough a ruler in him to save his friends and the girl he loved.
Max tried to concentrate on the work in front of him. It was an effort, but he kept his hands busy. By the time the lunch crowd was done, he, Michael, and Isabel had managed to finisn priming and painting the front of the diner. The work had not calmed him or given him any peace, but he fig- ured it was better than sitting idle. Isabel had used her pow- ers a bit in the end to spruce up the restaurant's sign, but Max hadn't bothered to protest. There was no one on the street to see them. They were finished, but Max was reluctant to move on. When they were working on the side and die back, he wouldn't be able to watch Liz through the window.
"Looks like the lunch rush is over," Max said.
"Rush?" Michael repeated. The restaurant had had maybe one third of its usual number of customers that day.
"That does it," Max said. He stepped back to look over the work.
"Let's clean up and get something to eat," Max said.
"Great job outside. Thank you," Bell said, after they'd freshened up. Though she was trying to put on a smile, Max could tell that… like him and everyone else… she was really thinking of only one thing.
"Thank you," Max said. "We used to paint with our dad back home.”
Bell nodded. "I didn't expect you to do the sign, too," she said.
"I found some matching paint in the basement," Isabel said, covering quickly.
"How did you get the neon to work?" Bell asked. "It hasn't come on in years.”
"I fixed it," Michael said, jumping in. "It was just a loose contact.”
Bell nodded politely, then turned serious. She looked from Max to Michael and said, "You look after the girls.”
"We will," Max said.
"These things happen in threes. They always take three girls at a time within about twenty-four hours. I know it sounds like crazy superstition, but every time it's happened, three girls have gone missing. Okay?" Bell said.
"Okay," Max said. Since she was opening up, Max con- sidered pumping Bell for information, but he decided against it. He needed to concentrate on getting his friends as far from Stonewall as possible.
Bell nodded and walked off. Liz came over and greeted him with a thin smile. Then she kissed him. holding it longer than usual.
Bell brought them food, but didn't stay to eat with them. "I'll be in the back with Sam," was all she said. Max understood. He wouldn't leave Liz's side voluntarily.
Kyle came in just as they sat down. Leaning into his friends, he said, "The engine is in and back in one piece. I have more I could do, but if we have to go, the van will be ready tonight.”
Max nodded. At the same moment, Jimmy stirred and Max felt a pang of guilt. We can't help her, Max reminded himself. No one can. Not now.
The voice in his own head sounded so convincing that he almost believed it.
"Then we'll go tonight when you get off work," Max said to Liz and Maria.
The others nodded. No one liked it, but they all silently agreed that they did not have a choice. A moment later, Max realized that they had fallen into their old habits: Max making decisions, and the others going along. But this was a decision that Max knew was the only one he or any of them could make.
After lunch, they started on the side of the diner. He didn't like not being able to see the girls, and he knew that Michael didn't either.
Yet he knew it was irrational. There had never been an… incident during daylight. And they would be on their way tonight.
"Too bad we won't be able to finish," Isabel said as they began. They would finish priming the side and rear of the diner today. And they would paint maybe half of the side wall before dinner. "Bell and Sam have been good to us," she added.