Indigo Slam

'Ah. Seattle is a wonderful city, but I haven't been there in years.' He gestured at the cookies. 'Teri baked these cookies, Mr. Cole. Won't you have some?'

Teri said, 'Chocolate chip raisin.'

She held the plate close to Clark, who bent to smell. 'Ah! My favorite!'

Clark beamed at Teri and Teri beamed at Clark. Winona beamed at everyone. Charles stayed back in the hall and glowered, but that was Charles. Maybe this wasn't the Hewitt house. Maybe my plane hadn't really landed in Los Angeles, but had somehow jumped dimensions and brought me to an alternate Los Angeles and these people were the Bradys.

I stayed on my feet, and I didn't take the cookies. ' Clark, you and I need to talk.'

He selected a fat, round cookie and settled back in the chair. 'Mmm.'

' Clark.'

Winona perched on the couch and Teresa put the plate on the coffee table near her father. 'Come out here, Charles, and have a cookie with Daddy.'

Charles made a single cough. 'Eff'm.'

Teresa's face flashed into a hard white mask, and her voice came out as rough as a rat-tail file. 'Charles.'

Charles coughed again, stomped down the hall, and slammed his door. Daddy might be home, but I guess everything wasn't hunky-dory with the Bradys.

Clark chewed and swallowed and smacked his lips as if he hadn't heard. Maybe he lived in one world and they lived in another and the two worlds overlapped only on occasion. 'I'm sorry the kids bothered you with all of this, Mr. Cole, but it's my fault they were worried. A business opportunity came up and I had to leave on such short notice that I couldn't get home to explain.'

'Such short notice that you left three underage children to fend for themselves.' No one had mentioned my face. No one had asked about the swelling or the bruise.

He eyed the plate for another cookie. 'Well, I tried phoning, but I always called at the wrong time.'

Teresa said, 'He phoned during the day when I was out.'

'You told me you don't go out.'

She frowned. 'Well, to the market and to pick up the kids. You know.'

Clark snagged a second cookie. 'I guess I should've tried more often, but there was so much to do.'

Winona said, 'We're going to be rich. We're going to buy a house and a Sega and a really big TV.'

Clark chuckled. 'Well, let's not buy that house just yet, but life is certainly looking up. Yes, it is.' He gave Winona a hug and smiled at Teri, but Teri wasn't looking at him. She was looking at me. He said, 'Our luck is about to change, and, boy, we deserve it. I'll be printing documents for a group of international investors with a long-term contract. A contract spells job security. None of this seasonal employment. No more of this moving every few months.' He tickled Winona and she giggled. 'We'll be able to buy our own home and settle down and not move around so much. Won't that be good, Teri?'

Teri nodded without looking at him. 'Yes sir. Yes, it will be good to stay put.'

Winona twirled the little troll. 'Can I have my own room? I want my own room!'

Clark laughed. 'Well, we'll see.'

I stared at Teri, and Teri stared back. Her lips were a thin tight line and her eyes fluttered and she mouthed the words 'Well, we'll see' as if they'd had this conversation a thousand times, and she knew deep in her soul that it was just talk, that the money would never come, and they would move and move and move. Then she seemed to get the fluttering under control and said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee?'

I said, ' Clark, could I see you outside, please?'

Clark said, 'It's hard being a single parent, but these little guys are just such a help. Their mother would be so proud.' Maybe he hadn't heard me. Maybe he was so filled with wonderful plans and the intricacies of big deals that the words had just flown right past him. Or maybe he was high.

I leaned toward him. 'Markov.'

Clark 's eyes focused for the first time, and he stood. 'Well, kids, I'm sure Mr. Cole is very busy, so I'll see him out to his car. Everybody say good-bye.'

Teri and Winona said good-bye, and Clark followed me out to my car. The heat had risen and the sun was bright and hot and the grass on the front lawn looked wilted and spotty. A stocky Hispanic woman walked past on her way up to Melrose. She carried a shopping bag in one hand and used the other to shield her eyes from the sun.

She did not look at us. ' Clark, I know who you were and what you did. I was in Seattle. I spoke with Wilson Brownell and a U.S. Federal Marshal named Reed Jasper. I also met Andrei Markov. I did not tell Jasper where you were, or what name you were living under, though I think you should contact him.'

Clark Hewitt was shaking his head before I finished. 'I couldn't do that. I don't want anything to do with those people.'

'The Markovs suspect that there's some kind of connection between us, and they know I'm from Los Angeles. That means they might show up here, nosing around, and even if they don't they're still out there, waiting. Jasper wants to help.'

Clark raised a hand as if I were telling him about a great place to buy discount tires but he was about to tell me of an even better place, his discount-tire secret. 'Thank you, but everything is going to be fine. We're going to leave soon.'

'You should leave now, Clark. If you don't have the money, call Jasper. He'll help. So will I.'

Clark shook his head.

'Are you high?'

He blinked at me, then shook his head. 'Oh no. I don't do that.'

I took a breath and let it out. I wanted to shout at him to knock off the bullshit, but Winona and Teri were standing in the front door, watching us. I said, 'I know why you lost the job at Enright Printing. I spoke with Tre Michaels.'

He didn't answer. He was pale, with dark lines under his eyes, and he looked tired. His eyes seemed sad, and I thought he might cry. 'Are you going to tell?'

'Of course not.' Like we were six years old.

Clark Hewitt's eyes filled and he blinked fast. 'Please don't tell.'

My head hurt and my scalp felt tight and the tightness was moving down to my neck. 'Do your children know about any of this?'

He shrugged.

'Do they know what you were, and why you move around so much?'

Another shrug.

'They must know something, Clark. It was only three years ago. You changed their names.'

He looked at the ground. Talk about denial.

Charles appeared in the window, stuck out his tongue, and gave us the finger with both hands. He seemed to be looking more at his father, but maybe it was the angle. ' Clark, I can help you get into a substance abuse program. There are people at the county and at a couple of private places I know who can help. You've got these kids to think about.'

Clark glanced at Teri and Winona. He smiled at them like we were discussing the weather. 'We'll be fine. Everything is going to be okay real soon. I won't leave them again.'

I took out a card and wrote a name and number on it. 'I want you call this number and speak with a woman named Carol Hillegas. If you don't enroll in a program I'm going to call Children's Services. Do you see where I'm going with this?'

Clark took the card, but didn't look at it. 'I understand. I won't leave them again.'

' Clark.'

'Everything's going to be fine. I'll call and I promise I won't leave them again.' He reached into his pocket and came out with an enormous fold of cash. 'I want to apologize for the trouble, and I want to thank you again for taking care of my children. I think you deserve a bonus.'

I stared at him.

He fumbled with the bills, riffling through a roll of hundreds that was even larger than Teri's. 'It's the least I can do.'

Teri noticed Charles in the window and said something. Charles gave us the finger still harder, and started crying. Teri disappeared from the door, reappeared in the window, and grabbed Charles by the arm. He shoved her and ran, and she chased him. She was crying, too. Winona was still in the door, smiling and oblivious and waving. Her face was filled with light.