Teddy smelled bacon cooking and it made him hungry. Could he ever go for a couple eggs sunny-side up, sausage and gravy and grits-with syrup over the top.
He could see Jack’s car still parked in the yard. Spent the night but not with the lady. Maybe he was losing his charm. He watched her get out of bed and stretch her arms over her head and yawn. He watched her set on the toilet, do her business. He watched her look at herself in the mirror and brush her teeth. No bath this morning and Teddy had to admit he was disappointed.
He heard a door bang closed and saw the kid come out the back of the cabin, moving with purpose toward the tree line, then into the woods and not a minute later the kid was standing right below him. Teddy thinking this was the moment of truth. If the kid turned and looked up, their whole plan could come unglued in a split second. But he didn’t and Teddy watched him head deeper into the woods and he took out his cell phone, dialed a number and said, “Let’s do it.”
Kate heard the front door open and close and Jack came in the kitchen, rubbing his hands like he was cold. “Sure smells good in here.”
He took off his jacket and folded it over a chair and sat across from her.
She said, “Where you been?”
“Out in the woods,” Jack said. “I saw a deer.” He sounded excited.
“How about coffee and some breakfast?”
He said, “I like this laid-back up-north life. I could get used to this.”
She got up and poured him a cup and made pancakes and put them on a plate with three slices of bacon and handed it to him. She was worried about what she was going to say to him and decided to just say it. “Listen, I’ve got a problem with Luke. Probably be a good idea if you gave us a little time alone.”
He didn’t react. It either bothered him or it didn’t. She couldn’t tell. He kept his eyes on her and said, “I understand.”
Now, in retrospect, she realized she should’ve been smarter, more aware. Luke was hurting and vulnerable, and having Jack overnight was probably the dumbest thing she could’ve done under the circumstances. Nothing happened, in spite of Jack’s persistent attempts to kiss her. He finally got the message and gave up and when the movie was over-they watched One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest — it was late, and Kate said, “Do you really have a motel room down the road?”
Jack said, “Know where the Red Lion is?”
And Kate said, “That’s on the other side of Suttons Bay, isn’t it? You can stay here, if you want.”
She took him up to the guest room and he put his arms around her and tried to kiss her again. She pushed him away. “Come on.”
“I can’t help myself,” Jack said.
“Luke’s right across the hall. That’s all he’d need-open his door and see his mother making out with somebody.”
Kate went to her room and locked the door, thinking that, in his current state of mind, Jack might sneak down and try to visit her in the middle of the night. What made it more difficult-she wanted him too-knew she was interested in him again. Maybe this time it would work. It was the third time their paths had crossed in twenty-some years, and wasn’t the third time a charm?
When he finished his breakfast, she walked him outside and they stood looking at each other. “You all right?” she said.
“Fine. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said. “You seem like you’re somewhere else.”
“Maybe I’m tired,” Jack said.
“I can understand-all your effort trying to get me in bed. That can tire a guy out.”
“Now, you know what you do to me and always have,” Jack said. “I can’t control myself around you.”
Kate said, “I guess it’s my fault, huh?”
He flashed his famous grin.
Kate said, “Where’re you going?”
Jack said, “Back to Tucson.”
“You sure?”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Jack said. “But you never know.”
With him you sure didn’t. She put her arms around him and kissed him.
“Be careful,” he said, “I’m in a weak physical state.”
“You’ll be all right,” Kate said. “Call me, will you? Let me know what you’re doing.”
Jack stopped at the market in Omena to get something for lunch. He was paying for a sandwich and a Coke when a deputy sheriff came in and looked around. He saw Jack and stepped over to the counter. He had his hands on his hips, showing off his arms, staring at Jack, sizing him up. He wore the brim of his hat low over his eyes. Jack assuming this was his intimidation pose.
The cop said, “That your Lexus out front?”
Jack said, “Yeah.”
In that stupid uniform, he reminded Jack of the two Tucson cops who’d arrested him at a picnic table outside Guero’s Taco Bar. He was taking a bite of a soft chicken taco when he saw two nine-millimeter Glocks aimed at his face.
Jack saying at the time, “You mind if I eat this? I’m starving.”
They must’ve,’ cause they put him flat on the patio stones and cuffed his hands behind his back. He hadn’t eaten in twelve hours. He thought about that taco for three and a half years, and it was the first place he went when he was paroled.
Jack met the deputy’s gaze and said, “What can I do for you?” Jack thinking he was going to say, “You’re under arrest for driving a stolen vehicle.”
“You’re a friend of Mrs. McCall’s, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Jack said.
“You staying there?”
Jack couldn’t figure out where he was going with this. “I was.”
“Where you headed now?”
“Is there a point to all this,” Jack said, “or you just making conversation?” He resented this yokel getting in his face.
The deputy stiffened up. “You’ve got a broken taillight,” he said. “That enough of a point for you?”
Jack regretted what he said. Had always had trouble keeping his mouth shut in certain situations.
“Have your license and registration with you? I’m going to have to issue you a citation.”
He took a pen out of his shirt pocket and opened his ticket book.
Jack said, “I got tagged last night in a restaurant parking lot in Suttons Bay. Dealership isn’t open till Monday. Think you could cut me a little slack?”
“I’ll give you forty-eight hours,” the deputy said. “After that, I’m going to give you a ticket. We understand each other?”
Jack just stared at him.
“I didn’t hear you,” the deputy said with a grin.
“Yeah,” Jack said. But, no, Jack was thinking, we don’t. He didn’t get why the deputy was being such a hard-ass. It didn’t make any sense. But in his experience, it didn’t have to-cops could fuck with you anytime they wanted.
Kate had to give Luke time to cool down, come to his senses. At eleven o’clock when he still wasn’t back, she drove into town. Stopped at Tom’s and bought cold cuts and Italian bread for lunch and a whole chicken for dinner. She’d fill the cavity with onions and lemons and thyme and roast it in the oven.
She expected to see Luke playing a video game on the big TV when she walked in the door. But it was quiet. She called his name. Nothing. Leon was stretched out on one of the leather chairs, eyes following her into the kitchen. He heard her putting groceries away and came in wagging his tail.
Kate squatted and held Leon’s face in her hands and said, “Where’s Luke? Have you seen him?”
Leon stared at her with sad eyes and an expression that said, I don’t have a clue.
Kate went upstairs and checked Luke’s room. No sign of him. She went back down and checked the garage. The Corvette was there. She opened the door to the storage room and saw Owen’s bloodstained jacket hanging on a hook, and the memory of his death came flooding back, her adrenaline pumping now as she put a leash on Leon and went into the woods looking for Luke. They followed a trail for a while till it disappeared, Leon going crazy, sniffing and pulling her. They went up a slope to a ridgetop and down the other side. Kate yelling, “Luke,” her voice sounding strange in the dense silence of the woods.