‘Yes ma’am, that’s it.’
‘Can you masturbate twice?’
Daniel nodded, stunned. He hadn’t even thought about that.
‘If you can make love with yourself twice but not anyone else, I doubt the problem is physiological.’ She stood, delicately brushed toast crumbs from her fingers, and started for the back door.
Daniel watched her go as if she were falling, either away from him or toward him, he couldn’t tell. He blurted, ‘I’d like to sleep with you. I think I could do it with you twice.’
Charmaine stopped and turned around, a hint of warmth in her smile. ‘I’m absolutely flattered, Daniel, but I’m just as absolutely not interested. I’m in the middle of some very demanding work, first of all. More important, I’m not the solution to your problem.’
‘Well, since I’ve already made a fool of myself, I might as well ask you something I’ve been wondering about. Whose aunt are you, anyway?’
Charmaine replied easily, ‘Nobody’s really. It’s a name Mommy’s Commies gave me years ago. It’s not widely known – and I’ll trust you to keep it that way – but I’m Polly McCloud’s daughter.’
‘Mommy of Mommy’s Commies is your mother?’
‘Yes. Though it doesn’t make me an aunt to the girls, clearly.’
‘Why don’t you ever visit your mother?’
‘I do.’
‘Oh,’ Daniel said. She acted as if he should have known, but how could he if nobody ever told him anything and were evasive if you asked?
Before Daniel could think of anything to say, Charmaine concluded, ‘I have work to do, and you have company waiting. Good night.’
Since he half expected Volta would be waiting for him in his cabin, he was mildly discombobulated to see a stocky woman with snow-white hair standing at his door. For an instant he thought it might be Polly McCloud, but then he recognized her – and was as shocked to see her as he had been the first time.
‘Goddammit, you better remember,’ she threatened.
‘Dolly Varden.’
‘I can show you my buckshot cherry if you don’t believe it. And don’t just stand there, come over and give this ol’ frame a squeeze – I need all the young action I can get.’
As he hugged her, he realized she was the first person he’d seen since his mother’s death who’d known her while alive. ‘My mother’s dead, you know,’ he said as evenly as he could.
‘Yes, I know. It made me sad in a real simple way. It’s also the reason I’m here. I’m acting as a go-between.’
‘Between who?’
‘AMO and Shamus Malloy.’
Daniel shook his head. ‘I’m a little dumb tonight. You’ll have to explain.’
‘Volta put the word out that you claimed your mother’s death was not an accident, that she had yelled for you to run before the bomb exploded, and that you wanted the names of Shamus’s accomplices since they might be responsible. When Shamus finally heard, he called Volta and said he wouldn’t give him the names until he was satisfied that you really had heard your mother scream for you to run. Obviously, Shamus thought it might be a ploy on Volta’s part to either extract privileged information or to keep Shamus feeling miserable. Volta suggested a go-between. They agreed on me.’
Daniel said, ‘You can tell Shamus it’s true, and that we’d appreciate the names of the others involved.’
‘So you don’t think it was an accident?’
‘It may have been. I don’t know. She yelled and then the bomb exploded – the same second. My gut feeling is that somebody killed her.’
‘Any ideas?’
‘No. That’s why Volta and I want the names of the others.’
‘I’ll tell Shamus personally.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Daniel,’ Dolly chided, ‘that’s confidential.’
‘Well, how is he?’
‘Torn up – he loved Annalee.’
Trembling, Daniel said, ‘So did I. Tell him if I didn’t do it and he didn’t do it, we should talk to the other three people involved, the bomb-maker for sure.’
‘Shamus asked me to warn you that Volta is a very strong and cunning man who didn’t want the theft to occur.’
‘Do you think Volta had anything to do with it?’
‘Personally? No. But he is a powerful and perceptive man.’
Daniel rubbed his eyes. ‘Dolly, do you mind if I ask your opinion on an entirely unrelated matter?’
‘Hell, I’d be honored.’
Dolly listened as he explained his problem. When he finished, she said, ‘So you can only make love with the same woman once – if I got it right?’
‘You do.’
‘Well, you best make it good.’
Dolly left the next morning with Charmaine after assuring Daniel that if and when Shamus provided the names, Volta would contact him.
At about the same time, seventy miles upriver, Jade Lavelle and Annie Sawyer waited for Mommy to return from her morning dip in the Rouge. They met her on the trail. Her short silver hair was still wet from her swim. She listened as they explained Daniel’s problem, her clear hazel eyes shifting from one speaker to the other.
Mommy’s response was swift and definite. ‘Don’t get involved with him. He’s going in a different direction.’
Annie and Jade were startled. Mommy seldom spoke so directly or emphatically.
As they thanked her and turned to leave, Mommy added, her voice much softer, ‘I know – oh, how I know – they are attractive.’
Over the next month, as the harvest was cured, clipped, and distributed, Daniel tried to follow Dolly’s advice. But he was still limited, for whatever reason, to one orgasm with each woman. All the Commies soon knew of Mommy’s comment, and those who hadn’t slept with him hurried to do so. By Thanksgiving, he’d just about run out of Commie lovers.
Fishing for steelhead, Daniel nearly leapt in the river when Volta appeared behind him and said, ‘Any luck?’
‘None,’ Daniel said.
‘Well, here’s some. We’re fairly certain we know who killed your mother. The man who made the bomb, Gideon Nobel.’
‘Why?’ was all Daniel could say.
‘He was in love with her, had been for years.’
‘It doesn’t sound right,’ Daniel said. ‘For one thing, I’m sure she never mentioned him.’ He began to reel in.
‘That’s part of the reason – the feeling wasn’t mutual.’
Daniel started to say something, but Volta held up his hands. ‘Let me apologize for the cheap drama – it’s an old show-business habit. Let’s go on up to the house and I’ll start from the beginning. That is, if you’re done fishing.’
They walked back to the ranch house and sat in the living room. Volta began, ‘Dolly contacted Shamus, gave him your assurance that your mother had shouted a warning just before the bomb exploded, and Shamus, after considering it for a few weeks, sent the names of the other people involved.’ He handed Daniel a piece of paper. Daniel recognized Shamus’s scrawl.
Carl Fuller – driver
Olaf Ekblad – inside
Gideon Nobel – bomb
‘What does inside mean?’ Daniel asked.
‘Going inside with Shamus, for the actual theft. As soon as I received the names – I’ve been in Mexico – I put some of our best people on them, and they’ve found out quite a bit in the short time they’ve had.
‘Carl “The Throttle” Fuller is an old wheelman, a real pro. We found him in Minneapolis without any trouble. He claims all he knew of the setup was his end – procuring the cars, arranging the switches, times and places for picking up the others. He didn’t know about the diversionary bomb, and never met anyone else involved except Shamus.
‘Basically the same story for Olaf Ekblad – absolutely trustworthy, no nerves, and he could have written the manuals for most alarm systems. In fact, AMO has used his services in the past and we’ve found him utterly reliable. He knew a diversion was planned, but not what or who was involved.’