“Very.”
“Poor man.”
“That’s me.”
She finished with the stocking, and rushed to the door. Staying out of view behind it, she pulled it open. Abe stepped into the room. “That was quick,” she said as she shut the door.
In the ten minutes since he left he had changed into navy slacks and a powder blue polo shirt. Tyler had managed to blow-dry her hair and begin dressing.
“I just couldn’t stand being away from you,” he said.
She stepped into his arms and kissed him. His hands roamed down her back, curled over her bare buttocks, pulled her closer against him. “Nice outfit,” he said after a while. He fingered a strap of her garter belt.
“Glad you like it,” Tyler said, and hugged him hard as Dan forced his way into her mind. Dan, who had given her the first one, gift-wrapped, during cocktails at the White Whale restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf. It was red and frilly with lace. He’d added a pair of nylons to the box. Without his asking, she’d excused herself and put them on in the restroom. And now he was dead, his savaged body on display—not his body, she reminded herself. Just a wax dummy.
“What’s wrong?” Abe whispered.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He took hold of her shoulders and eased her away. He stared into her eyes. “I know what’s bothering me,” he said.
“What?”
“Tomorrow.”
She moaned.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“We could stay another day.”
“I’d like to, but that would only be putting it off.”
“Let’s keep putting it off,” Tyler said through a tight throat. Her eyes felt hot. Then they filled with tears. She lowered her head as the tears started sliding down her cheeks.
“When do you have to get back for your job?”
She shrugged.
“Do you have to get back for your job?”
She looked up at him. “Do you want me to starve?”
“No. I want you to come with me.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I…I think you and I…I guess the thing of it is, I love you.”
“Oh, Abe.” Sobbing, she threw her arms around him. “I love you so much.”
For a long time, they held each other. When Tyler finished crying, she wiped her eyes on the shoulder of his shirt and kissed him.
“Well, now that’s settled…” he said.
“What’ll we do?”
“Join Jack and Nora at the Happy Hour.”
“About tomorrow.”
“Whatever we decide, we’ll do it together.”
“I do have to get back to LA. Some time.”
“Can you postpone it a few days?”
“Sure. I guess so.”
“Why don’t we check with Nora, then? If everybody agrees, we’ll head on over to my place.”
“Your place? What place?”
“The Pine Cone Lodge. It’s a resort hotel up at Shasta.”
“It’s yours?” Tyler couldn’t keep the astonishment out of her voice.
“Dad’s and mine. He’s been after me to take over running the place so he can work in some more fishing. I won’t start right away, though. Hell, he’s waited this long. We can spend a while just fooling around. It’s pretty nice up there. You can see how you like it, see if it’s the sort of place where you might like to settle down, raise some kids…”
“Kids?”
“You know, those tiny little human things.”
“My God, Abe.”
“If all that fresh air is too much for you, or you want to hang onto your job, I’ve had an offer from an old buddy with the LA Sheriff’s Department. He was pretty miffed when I turned him down. I’m sure he’d be more than happy, though, to…”
“No way,” Tyler said. “I’ve never had anything against fresh air, and my job…” she shook her head, “I can live without it. Besides.” She stared into his eyes. “LA’s no place to bring up kids.”
Grinning, he said, “Well.”
“Well,” Tyler echoed. She kissed him again. “I guess I’d better put some clothes on.”
“Don’t do it on my account.”
Abe watched while she stepped into her pleated skirt and pulled her white cashmere sweater over her head. Sitting at the dressing table, she fastened a thin gold chain around her throat. Abe stood behind her, looking at her reflection as she brushed her hair and applied lipstick. Turning her head slightly, she studied a faint red blotch on the side of her neck. She wondered if she should try to cover it with makeup.
“How’d you get that?” Abe asked.
“You should know.”
He looked perplexed. “Did I do that?”
“With your very own mouth, darling. I could show you five or six more, but since I’m already dressed…”
“It can wait till after dinner, I guess. It’ll give me something to look forward to.”
She decided to leave it alone. After all, nobody would notice the blemish except perhaps Nora and Jack, and they were probably well aware that she and Abe had spent the afternoon making love. They had likely been busy with a similar pastime themselves.
She got up from the dressing table, slipped into her sandals, and picked up her purse.
“You’ve got your key?” Abe asked.
She nodded. He opened the door for her, and took her hand as they walked into the courtyard. In spite of the breeze, the late afternoon sun felt hot on Tyler’s back. The air smelled sweet, an aroma of pine mixed with the fresh ocean scent. “Is your Pine Cone Lodge like this?” she asked.
“It’s a bit larger. You can see it for yourself tomorrow. Do you think Nora will mind the side trip?”
“I doubt that. She’s always on the lookout for an adventure. Especially where there’s a man involved. As long as Jack’s going to be with us, I don’t think she’ll squawk.”
“We should change the driving arrangement so they can travel together.”
“So they can travel together?”
Abe squeezed her hand. “Well, I wouldn’t mind a new passenger. You’re prettier than Jack.”
“Flatterer.”
They walked past the rear of Gorman Hardy’s Mercedes, a reminder that Brian Blake had disappeared. Blake, the motel owners and their daughter. Though there’d been some speculation during lunch about the missing four, Tyler hadn’t given them a thought all afternoon. She suddenly felt a little guilty about that, as if she’d selfishly ignored their plight, as if she’d neglected her duty to worry about them.
Whatever happened to them, she told herself, they won’t be any better off with me worrying.
Besides, she didn’t know the girl at all, had only spoken briefly with the father when they checked in, had seen the mother just for a few moments last evening at the restaurant, and disliked Brian Blake.
That shouldn’t matter, she thought. If something awful happened to them, you should be concerned.
Okay, I’m concerned. Right now, I’m dwelling on them instead of thinking about myself and Abe. That’s concern. I hope they’re all right. There.
What could’ve happened to them?
Her mind suddenly filled with a picture of Maggie Kutch grinning, opening a red curtain to expose a display of Blake and the others, their mutilated bodies sprawled on the bloody floor of a room, Blake’s head torn from his neck, his open eyes staring at her.
“God,” she muttered.
Abe looked at her.
“I got thinking about Blake and the others,” she explained. “I hardly even know them.”
“‘Every man’s death diminishes me because I am a member of mankind,’” Abe quoted.
“Do you think they’re dead?”
“I have no idea, really. But I’d guess it’s a strong possibility.”
“Do you think the beast…?”
“If you asked Captain Frank, I’m sure he’d say Bobo’s behind it. I don’t know about that. But it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people get themselves murdered in this town.”