44: Book Six (12 page)

She sighed and tossed down the serving fork.

“Hello,” I said, ignoring the guy she seemed to be with.

She looked up startled and forced a smile.

“Hi,” she whispered. I could barely hear her.

He shot me a dirty look.

I watched her as they walked to a table, sitting side by side. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek as if apologizing. But I could see it. The dark energy swirling around him.

I looked away and noticed Sutter’s eyes crawling all over her like cockroaches.

As the line slowed down and then came to an end, I watched her, trying to be more subtle and less creepy than Sutter. Trying to think of a way to approach her.

I couldn’t let the opportunity get away, couldn’t just hope to find her again here tomorrow. This might be my last chance. Somehow, I had to tell her that she was going to die unless she listened to me.

I caught myself studying her boyfriend, or whoever she was with. He looked to be about 25. He was tall and thin, except for a small beer belly, and wore old clothes and one of those Jamaican-style rastacaps covering his dirty hair. He had a lot of tattoos and his chin was full of scruff.

My immediate impression was that she was too good for him. And not because of how he was dressed or how he looked. There was something in his eyes. Something about him was wrong.

A sudden chill passed through me as I wondered if I was staring at a future killer.

“I just saw an old friend and want to say hello,” I said, turning to Sutter. “I’ll be right back to help with clean up.”

I started walking over to the table.

“Hey, you can’t just leave!” I heard him shout behind me. “Come back here, slim!”

I stopped for a moment and turned around to look at him. He was holding a large serving spoon in his hand. His expression had changed. He was neither friendly nor creepy. He looked angry and downright scary.

“Come back here!”

People looked up from their trays and started staring at him and then me.

I didn’t care. This was more important. Angie would have to deal with Sutter’s freak out.

“Hi,” I said, sitting down across from her.

It was a feeble plan. But at least it was something. I tried to be upbeat and something bordering on charming.

I couldn’t just blurt out the truth here in the middle of all these people and hope that she would believe me. I needed to get her alone. I needed an address or phone number where I could reach her.

She ignored me.

“Hi,” her boyfriend said. “Logan.”

I saw Angie coming out from the kitchen, heading toward Sutter. He began pointing toward me.

“I was wondering if you two would be interested in answering a few questions for a survey we’re conducting regarding your experience here tonight. If you do, there’s a $20 Target gift certificate that you would be eligible to win. I would normally just ask you the questions right now, but we’re shorthanded tonight, but if you give me a number where I can reach you, we can do it over the phone in the next few days. Does that sound like something either of you would be interested in doing? It only takes five minutes.”

“I don’t know what little boys you hang with,” he said, letting out a dark chuckle that was dirtier than his hair. “But it takes a whole lot longer when you’re with me. Right, April? Whole lot longer.”

She looked away.

“Hell, yeah,” he said a moment later. “I think you guys use too much salt. I’ll take your survey. We both will. That will increase our chances of winning, right?”

“Sure will,” I said, feeling sick and promising myself that if I couldn’t hold it down, I would throw up in his face.

I pulled out my phone.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I said.

He gave me his first, making the six sound like “sex” and looking at me.

“You’re up, April,” he said, going back to his food.

“I’m Abby by the way,” I said. “Pleased to meet you.”

She whispered the numbers, forcing me to ask her if I had it right.

“I’ll be in touch,” I said, getting up.

I fought the urge to delete Logan’s number.

I had crawled through a river of Sutter and Logan and was in dire need of a long shower. But I had made real progress. I knew who the victim was going to be and I had her phone number. For the first time I felt like I had a chance to save her. A real chance.

CHAPTER 35

“All right,” I said. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

I drove over to the soccer fields, my mind on autopilot. I hadn’t talked to Ty since he dropped by Back Street that day. He had called a few times but I didn’t answer. I listened to his messages without returning his calls.

I was tired. Tired of the whole thing. We had gone around and around like an airplane circling a fogged-in airport, waiting for the okay to land. But there would never be an okay for us. The radio was dead. So we just kept circling, going over the same territory over and over again. And I had just run out of gas.

The sadness had been replaced at first by anger. But now there was only acceptance of the inevitable.

In his latest message he offered to play keeper for me while I practiced my shot. Why not? The soccer field was as good a place as any to end it.

I turned into the lot, driving down to where we used to practice. Ty’s truck was parked at the far end. I spotted him under one of the crossbars, doing pull ups. I tightened my shoelaces and then dribbled through the frost-covered grass toward him. He jumped down and waved when he saw me.

“Hey,” I said. “I’d be careful doing that. I’ve heard about some people who have had the goal come down on them.”

“That would be a bad way to go,” he said, walking over to meet me.

I could see he wanted to kiss me but I backed away.

“I miss you,” he said again.

“Well, here I am,” I said, the words sounding like I was reading from a phonebook.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he said, nodding toward the goal. “I’m ready.”

“I’m going to warm up first. I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes.”

I took off and dribbled around the field a couple of times. Then I did a few wind sprints.

My first shot turned out to be my last. Knuckling through the air, the ball, slippery from the wet grass, went right through his fingers and hit him in the head. The impact knocked him back into the goal.

“You all right?” I said, running up to him.

“I think so,” he said, rubbing his head. “You should see the other guy. Oh, wait, you do see the other guy. The dead guy.”

He started to giggle.

It didn’t sound like something Ty would say, no matter how mad he was. Plus he was laughing. His eyes didn’t look right.

“I think we should get you to the hospital,” I said, reaching down to help him up. “I think you might have a concussion.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my head,” he said as he staggered to his feet. “It’s my heart that’s broken.”

I put my arm around his waist and helped him toward the parking lot.

“Hey, what do you think would happen if I died of my broken heart?” he said, staring at my ear. “Then you would have two dead guys to love. Would that make things easier or more dif, dif, dif, ah, harder? Which shoes would you choose?”

We finally reached the Jeep and I helped him inside. As I reached over to help him on with his seatbelt, he tried to kiss me but missed, giving me a small headbutt instead.

“I just want to kiss you,” he said, sounding drunk.

I was starting to worry. I hoped it wasn’t too serious. I got in the driver’s side and backed up.

“Hey, that’s mine,” he said, pointing to his pickup.

“I know,” I said. “Stay awake.”

“Why? Is it bedtime already?”

CHAPTER 36

On the way to St. Charles, Ty started feeling better.

“I’m okay,” he said. “You didn’t hit me that hard. I just feel a little weak is all. But I think it might be because I haven’t been eating right. I’m not going to the hospital, Abby.”

“When’s the last time you had some real food?” I said.

“I don’t know. It’s been a while.”

I got to the hospital and kept driving.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry about those things I said back there.”

“Never mind that now,” I said. “Let’s get you something to eat and we’ll see how you’re doing.”

Our breakup would have to wait. At least until after he had had a decent breakfast.

We walked into Pilot Butte Drive In and I watched him while he ate a huge plate of
huevos rancheros
.

***

April, if that was even her name, had given me a fake phone number.

When I called it, it was to a dog grooming service. A man who sounded old answered.

“Hi, is April working today?” I asked.

“April?” the man said. “Nope. You got the wrong number.”

“Wait,” I said. “Are you sure? She’s blonde with dark eyes.”

“Sounds nice. No, the only one around here fitting that description is the golden retriever I’m looking at. But he calls himself Rufus.”

I put the phone down and took a sip of coffee. I was sitting by the window on my break. A freezing fog covered the street. I could barely make out the opposite sidewalk.

There was only one other thing I could think of.

I dialed the number and waited.

“Yeah?” he said.

“Hi, Logan. This is Abby Craig. I don’t know if you remember—”

“Yeah, did I win?” he said.

Win? He hadn’t even filled out my phony survey. How could he win? But I wasn’t going to let some imaginary fine print get in my way.

“Uh, no, sorry,” I said. “But I have some good news for April. Her name got pulled out of the hat. But I must have taken down her phone number wrong. Anyway, would you know how I could get ahold of her?”

“You just missed her. Hey, but why don’t you give me your number,” he said. “And I’ll pass it along to her.”

I didn’t like the idea of giving this loser my phone number but couldn’t think of what else to do.

“All right then, Abby,” he said. “I’ll give her the good news.”

I started to lose some of the hope I had felt the night before. Would he even give her the message? Her life was in his hands. Maybe literally in his hands.

I didn’t trust those hands.

CHAPTER 37

An hour later, she called me back. I made up a story about needing her signature on some paperwork. I asked if there was somewhere we could meet.

“I’ve got a class at the college at one,” she said. “But I’ll be home till 12:30.”

I looked at my watch. It was just before 11. My shift ended at two, but I would have to make up something else to tell Mike.

I felt bad about lying to him, but I told myself I would make it up to him later.

I could feel Mo’s eyes drilling into the back of my head as I walked past the growing line of customers and out the door.

***

It was strange seeing her up close, in real life. Alive.

In the vision, she was usually on the ground, dead or dying, but standing here in front of me I noticed for the first time her height and the twinkle in her eyes. There was a sadness in those eyes that made her look older in the light of day, but there was also a spark, a sign of life. Something that wasn’t there in the visions.

“I only have a few minutes,” she said, letting me inside the apartment. “I forgot I was supposed to meet someone before my class. I’m helping them. Like sort of a tutor. It’s weird, you know. I feel like there’s so many things I don’t know. And here I am trying to help someone else.”

I knew exactly what she meant.

She seemed more relaxed and self-assured than at the soup kitchen. She wasn’t whispering like she had the night before. I looked around the small living room, hoping Logan wasn’t there.

“You know when Logan told me you called and that I had won, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I didn’t say anything to him, but what I don’t understand is how I could have won if I didn’t even answer any questions yet. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thanks,” I said. “I’m fine.”

I needed to gain her trust. I realized that what I was about to tell her required her to believe me. I needed to make a fresh start. I needed to stop lying to her.

She sat across from me in the messy living room. There were piles of clothes on the floor and DVDs and video games scattered on the coffee table. The TV was on in the background. She was watching a talk show and reached over to mute it.

“So,” she said, looking at me.

“So you’re in school?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Second year. Next year I’ll transfer to OSU.”

“What are you studying?”

“Just the usual,” she said. “I don’t have a major yet but I’m thinking about... Is this part of the survey?”

“Well,” I said. “I, uh, I don’t know exactly how to tell you this, April. So I’m just going to come out with it. You see, there’s no survey and no prize. I’m here to help you. I have something to tell you that you need to listen to.”

She stood up quickly and folded her arms across her chest.

“What do you mean?” she said, a line forming between her eyes. “You’re not one of those religious nuts, are you?”

“Well, I’m sure some people think I’m crazy,” I said, standing up. “But, no, that’s not what this is about.”

“What’s it about then?”

“I’ve had this strange dream, it’s kind of a recurring dream or, uh, vision, I guess you could say…”

I had rehearsed what I would tell her on the drive over, but the words were sticking and not coming out right. I could tell by her expression that I was losing her.

I hated this part, hated it more than actually seeing the ghosts. I wasn’t good at talking to people in the first place, and then having to tell them about visions and ghosts and stuff like that just took things to a whole other level of discomfort.

“I have this very strong feeling that you’re in danger. I’ve seen it in a dream. Over and over again.”

She stared at me for a moment.

“What kind of danger?” she said, her voice distant, her gray energy circling around her strangely.