“Yes,” he said. “Maybe someday I’ll call the station and tell you about it. I won’t bother you at lunch, though.”
“I’d be happy to help if I can,” I said.
“Thanks. But you don’t owe me any favors for helping you today.” He saw that I had finished my tea. “Is there someone you want to call to meet you here and walk you back to the station? You can borrow my phone if you’d like.”
I considered this for a moment, then pictured the combination of bad timing and the awkwardness of the request I’d be making. “They’ll be madly working to be ready for tonight’s broadcast. I’ll be okay.”
“How about if I walk you back there? Just to be on the safe side.”
I hesitated, then said, “I’d appreciate that.”
As we left, I started asking myself if I was nuts. I didn’t know this guy any better than I knew Roderick. He was lean and fit, and dressed neatly. Had I let that lull me? I didn’t even know his-
“I’m Donovan,” he said, not trying to shake hands or even walk close to me. He was watching the street, not me. I relaxed.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
He asked me how I liked working in radio and mentioned an interview of mine he had enjoyed, one with a local physics professor about the Large Hadron Collider.
“Fortunately,” I said, “the professor realized I didn’t know what I was talking about and dumbed it down for me.”
“No, he just made it accessible for nonscientists who were listening to the program. Quite a change from stories on city hall, though.”
I admitted that our small staff size meant I covered stories on subjects I never would have covered for the paper. “I’m back to being a general assignment reporter. I don’t mind, really-I enjoy the variety.” We were at the station doors by then. “Thanks again,” I said, “and please do call me if you think I can help you.”
“Maybe I will.” He glanced back toward the street, then said, “I’ll wait here until you’re inside. I can see that Roderick has been following us.”
“What!”
“He’s over by the bank. Trying not to be too obvious, but…” He shrugged.
I casually looked toward the Bank of Las Piernas building. Sure as hell, Roderick was pretending to be waiting in the ATM line.
“Do you want to call the police? I have a feeling he’s hoping for a rematch with me, but I’m not worried about that. I am concerned about your safety, though.”
“If he tries to fight you, maybe I should call the police.”
“Don’t do it on my account,” he said. He glanced back at me and said, “Why do I get the feeling you don’t want to call them on your own behalf?”
“I’ve only recently won a little breathing space,” I admitted. “The whole Nick Parrish thing. I’m sure you’ve heard. If I start setting off alarms, I’m going to be hemmed in again.”
“Hmm. I can understand that, I suppose.”
“Do you really think he’s dangerous?”
He watched Roderick for a while and said, “I’m inclined to say not really, but he strikes me as unpredictable. He definitely needs an anger management class, and I don’t like that he invaded your personal space.”
I sighed.
“Tell you what. I’ll have a little talk with him. If I can’t get him to leave when I do, then call the police, okay? And no matter what, promise me you’ll get someone to walk you to your car tonight after work.”
“I promise,” I said and bid him good-bye as I went inside.
I didn’t have a very clear view of the bank from the lobby of our building, but I did have the reassuring presence of a security guard standing at his post near the reception desk. Within a few minutes Roderick came tramping down the sidewalk, hands in pockets, casting resentful glances over his shoulder.
Donovan followed a few feet behind him. He didn’t so much as glance my way-he was totally focused on Roderick, who flipped him the bird as he got into a battered pickup truck. Donovan ignored him, getting into his own vehicle, a brown Ford Escape. He waited until Roderick started his truck and pulled into traffic before he started the SUV. Only then did he glance toward me. He gave me a quick thumbs-up and drove away.
Back at my desk, I found myself inclined not to make a big deal out of Roderick. I would be careful, but I probably wouldn’t mention what had happened to my usual set of keepers. I’d say I dropped the phone, or Frank would be issuing an all-points bulletin for Roderick, who now that I was safely in my office, appeared to me to have been no more than a typical self-involved nut with a story.
So when I ran into Donovan again a few days later, just as I was leaving work, Lydia saw me greet him warmly and heard him jokingly ask if I had figured out why the universe was expanding and not contracting.
She thought I might have met him while working on the physics story Ethan had put me on to and felt sympathy for him when he asked if I had time to talk to him about the missing person case he had mentioned to me. He invited her to join us. Nothing made her feel uneasy about him. When I assured her that he would see me safely to my car, she saw nothing wrong with me walking off alone with him to a nearby restaurant to have a quiet talk about the case.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Kai sat in the darkness in a corner of his mother’s room. She was awake. He knew this because she was not breathing the way she breathed when she was asleep. And she was restless, making the small amount of movement she could. He hoped she wouldn’t try talking to him. She knew better than to make those awful, meaningless sounds when he was near. He had her so well trained, he could do what he needed to do without really thinking about her. He had bigger problems on his mind.
The lights in the room were out, but a soft glow came from the display of what looked like a clock radio. He had plugged earphones into a jack on the instrument’s side and was now listening to a conversation being held downstairs. Donovan may have scorned Quinn’s surveillance system, but Kai thought Donovan might have been more impressed if he had known about Kai’s own little system. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Donovan about it. Or any of the others. But he was especially glad that his two-faced, backstabbing, know-it-all half brother Quinn had no idea about it. His dad should have entrusted a real electronics expert-Kai-to set up security. Quinn didn’t know everything there was to know.
For example, Quinn didn’t know that Kai had placed listening devices in every room of this place.
He had been uneasy when Quinn showed up again so soon after his last visit, and just before their next big event. Quinn was supposed to be in Las Piernas, making sure Donovan was obeying orders. Kai thought that was ridiculous. Who was Quinn to ensure Donovan was obedient? Quinn was the one who was disobedient, or he wouldn’t be here right now.
In contrast, when their father had whispered to Kai, asking for some time alone with Quinn, Kai had immediately left the room, saying, “I have to take care of Mom. Just call me if you need me.”
Before he’d reached the top of the stairs, he could hear Quinn making a remark he doubtless intended Kai to hear.
“I don’t know why you don’t just kill that crippled-up bitch.”
“No,” Parrish had said coldly, “you don’t.”
Kai had smiled to himself and continued on to her room. He knew Quinn’s repulsion would keep him away from Violet Loudon’s room, and Kai’s setup would be safe from at least one pair of prying eyes.
Listening on the earphones now, he could hear Quinn talking to their father.
Urging Parrish to abandon Kai.
“… I’m telling you, he’s going to be the ruin of everything! Look, I’ve got the money you need to go anywhere in the world. Let’s leave Kai and that hideous woman here and take off. I can keep you safe.”
“Don’t you think Kai might say something to the authorities if he was left here to fend for himself?”