See you around, Franklin said. Lucas walked back up the long driveway to the house, where hed parked, while Franklin strolled once more around the truck, rubbing out a couple of imaginary blemishes with the cuff of his coat. I love you, he said aloud. He was back at the drivers side door, and about to get in, when Lucas arrived at the Porsche, a hundred and fifty feet away.
Going up alone? Franklin bellowed.
Lucas threw him the finger and got in the car.
TWENTY-ONE
WHEN AUDREY MCDONALD OPENED HER EYES THE next morning, she knew something she hadnt known when she closed them the night before.
Helen, she said.
Helen had been talking to Davenport. Helen had always hated Wilson, and must have called Davenport anonymously. Thats how Helen would have done it, maneuvering to get rid of Wilson without damaging her relationship with her sisterand that would explain why Davenport thought hed spoken to Audrey. Helen and Audrey spoke with the same soft Red River Valley accent, with the rounded and softenedos of the Swedes; they said boot when they meant boat.
Davenport had picked that up, but hadnt known of Helen.
But this was new: Helen had realized that people were being murdered? Believed that Wilson had done it, and moved against him? Helen didnt keep secrets very welclass="underline" give her a secret, and she usually blurted it out the first chance she had.
Audrey would have to think about this: How much did Helen know, and how much had she guessed? How early had she caught on? Had she taken any notes, mental orotherwise, that might point away from Wilson and toward herself? And did she know about all the incidents? Did she know about McKinney and the Bairds?
WHEN LUCAS WOKE, HE THOUGHT ABOUT SHERRILL. The woman would sooner or later be a problem; maybe even a disaster. They worked too closely, on problems too complicated, for a romance to work very well. And when the word got outand the word would get outthere would be serious sniping to deal with. He hoped Sherrill understood that: she was smart enough, she should.
He wished she was in his bed now. He rolled over, awake, feeling fresh, pivoted and put his feet on the floor, realized that he hadnt felt quite this good for months.
And then he thought of Weather, and a touch of sadness came over him. Hed wanted to marry her. If she suddenly changed, and came back to him, hed accept her in an instant.
But she was falling away now. Her influence was fading: he didnt think of her as much. Like Moms death, he thought. When Lucass mother died, of breast cancer, hed thought of her every few minutes for what seemed like a year. Things shed said, images of her faces, moments of their life together. That was all still there in his head, and the images came back from time to time, but not like those first few months. His mother had gone gently away, and now came back only when he reached for her.
Like Weather.
He sighed, and headed for the bathroom. He was a late riser, and he looked back at the clock as he went: he wanted to be there when Audrey McDonald made her court appearance.
AUDREYS ATTORNEY, JASON GLASS, SHOWED UP WITH a woman photographer, a load of photo equipment, a pair of gym shorts, and a soft halter top.
This is Gina, Glass told Audrey. We need to take some photographs of you, showing your injuries. This isabsolutely critical for the case. Gina brought some terry cloth for modesty purposes…
They shot the pictures in an unoccupied hospital room, against the white drape that ran around the bed. At Ginas direction, Audrey limped into the small bathroom and put on the shorts and halter top, carefully brushed her hair, and went out to face the cameras.
Im sorry, Gina said before she started shooting. I should have told you to leave your hair as it was. Nobody will ever see these photos except attorneys, and frankly, we want them to look as… severe… as possible.
Audrey nodded; she knew what was needed. She trundled back into the bathroom and flipped her hair back and forth, stirred it around, then brushed it away from the scalp wound. In the mirror, she looked like a photo of a nineteenth-century madwoman in Bedlam. And that, she supposed, was what they wanted.
Excellent, Gina said, as she set up a couple of spindly light stands. That is just beautiful.
When the photos were done, Glass, whod waited in the hall, said to Audrey, You look like you still hurt.
I do, Audrey said, deliberately vague. She peered around as though shed lost a pair of glasses, or her shoes, and her lip trembled. I cant believe Wilson is gone.
Im going to put you in a wheelchair before we head over to the courthouse, Glass said. I think youll be more comfortable that way.
Thank you, Audrey muttered.
A MAN NAMED DARIUS LOGAN WAS SAYING, I KNOW I shouldnt have done it, Your Honor, but the dude flipped me off, you know? when a sheriffs deputy wheeled Audrey into the courtroom, the two of them trailed by Glass.
Lucas was sitting in the back row, reading the St. Paul paper. Del sat next to him, thumbing throughCliffs Notes on Greek Classics. Two dozen other people were scattered around the courtroom, half of them lawyers, a couple of defendants wives, reporters for the local television stationsand newspapers, waiting for the McDonald hearing, and two or three courthouse groupies following the TV people.
McDonald looked bad, Lucas thought. Her head was patched with white bandages, stark against her gray face. She was wearing a gingham dress with short sleeves, a summer dress really, but one that beautifully showed off the bruises on her arms and lower legs. She looked beaten, both physically and psychologically: then, as the bailiff wheeled her toward the defense table, she saw Lucas. And for a vanishingly small instanta time so short that it must have been imaginaryLucas felt her eyes spark. Not sparkle, but actually spark, as with electricity.
The judge, a prissy little blonde who was known for occasional bouts of judicial intemperance, had grown impatient with Logan. He said, Thats all very well, Mr. Logan, but youve been here a number of times before and were getting a little tired of it. Ill put bail at five thousand dollars and expect to see you back here at… As he thumbed through a calendar, there was a meaty smack from the audience, as though somebody had just been punched. The impact came from the forehead of a young woman whod just slapped herself with one heavy hand. The judge looked up and said, Do you have something to say, young lady?
The woman stood up and said, Your Honor, if we got to pay some bail bondsman seven hundred and fifty dollars to get Darius out of jailshe pronounced it Dare-Iuswhere in the hell am I gonna get the money for the kids dinners?
The judges eyes clicked to the face of a well-known TV reporter, then back to the woman. Why dont you leave Dare-I-us in jail for a while?
Dont dare do that, the woman said.
Why not?
Just dont dare.
Okay. Sit down. Dare-I-us, are you gonna show up for the trial?
I sure will, Your Honor.
All right. Bails set at one thousand dollars, and youve got the young lady to thank for it.
Thank you, Your Honor.
As Logan left, the judge said, Call the next one, and the bailiff called out, Audrey McDonald.
Here, Your Honor, Glass called back.
The woman whod gotten the bail reduced on Darius Logan wedged herself down a line of spectators, out to the center aisle, and headed for the door. As she passed, she saw Del, and Del said, quietly, Quick pregnancy.
Shush, she said, and was gone. Del looked at Lucas and said, Didnt have any kids last week.
Its a miracle, Lucas said, turning to sports.
AUDREY MCDONALD SAT HUNCHED IN HER CHAIR, her back to Lucas, as the hearing routine broke around her, speaking only two words: Not guilty.