Backtracker (80 page)

"
You might be right,
"
frowned Dave.
"
I wondered about that myself. I mean, it does make sense that he
'
d try to send me off in the wrong direction. He
'
s certainly lied to me before.
"

Billy nodded emphatically.
"
Yeah, really. If he was Pi
noc
c
hio, his freakin
'
nose
'
d
stretch clear from here to
Pittsburgh
.
"

"
I thought that might be a possibility, too,
"
said Dave, futilely thumbing at the speeding car as it blew past.

"
What
?
"
snorted Billy.
"
That he
'
s
Pinocchio
?
"

"
That he might
'
ve gone to Pittsburgh,
"
corrected Dave.
"
It
'
s about the closest real city, right?
'
Out of town
'
sort of sounds like Larry was headed for another city, doesn
'
t it?
"

Billy shook his head.
"
Nah. He could
'
ve meant just about anywhere...but I
'
d bet my balls that son of a bitch never meant to leave Confluence. Why else would he
'
ve been so wired about you going to the cops? Because he wasn
'
t finished with whatever he wanted to
do
around here, and he needed some more
time
.
He
knew
you
'
d go to the cops sooner or later. I mean, he must
'
ve known you couldn
'
t just leave that kid
'
s body laying in Wolf
'
s Rock
forever
.
"

"
That
'
s true,
"
admitted Dave as two more cars swept past.

"
He couldn
'
t keep you from
ever
going to the cops,
"
continued Billy,
"
so why would he care if you got the police as soon as you could? If he was really going out of town, he
'
d have
plenty
of time to make a run for it. He left you and me all the way out at Wolf
'
s Rock and made sure we couldn
'
t use the Torino, so he
'
d be able to get a
long
ways from Confluence before we
'
d even have a chance to
call
the cops. Not only that, but the cops
'
d take a while to get their shit together and decide to hunt the bastard down. He
'
d be pretty
safe
if he
was
going out of town, and he wouldn
'
t
'
ve needed to threaten to kill your family.
"

Thumb raised for an oncoming pickup, Dave nodded. Billy
'
s reasoning seemed sound; Dave was quickly becoming convinced that his partner
'
s conclusions were right on the money, that Larry Smith
'
s final victim was indeed a local target. Though Larry
'
s threats were fictional,
he'd
certainly been adamant about Dave avoiding the cops;
he'd
begged Dave to keep himself and Billy from going to the police for at least a day. Why would Larry need so much more time if he already had a substantial head start, enough to escape Confluence long before the cops could initiate pursuit?

"
Okay,
"
said Dave.
"
So maybe Larry never wanted to leave town in the first place. What about that name, though? Where does it fit in?
"

"
Maybe it doesn
'
t,
"
said Billy.

"
I think it
does
, though,
"
said Dave.
"
I have this
hunch
,
y
'
know? Like a really strong gut
feeling
.
It seems like the kid
'
s name is really
important
somehow.
"

Billy released a long, belabored sigh.
"
Well, I
'
ll be damned if I can tell you
why
it
'
d be important.
"

Dave winced and gritted his teeth, tried to wring an answer from his uncooperative brain.
"
There
'
s
gotta
'
be a reason why it
gets
me like that,
"
he ground through clenched jaws.
"
It
'
s like I
'
ve
heard
that name before and I
know
it has something to
do
with all this, but I just can
'
t quite
nail
it.
"

"
Maybe it
'
s just wishful thinking,
"
suggested Billy.

"
No
,
"
Dave snapped forcefully.
"
I
'
m
sure
there
'
s something important about it.
"

"
Well, let
'
s see,
"
said Billy.
"
Hoffman, huh? Frank Hoffman.
"
With that, Billy stopped talking; his brow furrowed thoughtfully and his eyes dipped to stare at the gravel berm.

"
Hoffman,
"
Dave said to himself, squinting with intense concentration. He was so engrossed in dissecting the name that he
didn
'
t
even notice two cars cutting past; though he watched them glide on toward McConleyville, he
didn
'
t
even realize that they had been potential rides, that he should have heard them coming and raised his thumb.

Frank Hoffman. Hoffman, Frank.

Frank Hoffman Frank Hoffman Frank Hoffman.

Nothing; Dave truly applied himself, attacked the name with fresh fervor, but it yielded nothing.

Frank Hoffman. What
was
it about that
name
?
There was
something
, and Dave
sensed
it, but
couldn
'
t
quite
grasp
it; it was as if he were in a lightless room, and he could feel the presence of someone else in the room with him, but the other person constantly remained beyond his reach.

Three more cars buzzed by in a tight formation, and the partners again neglected to extend their thumbs or even look to the road. For the moment, thoughts of fast travel were secondary; the name had eclipsed hitchhiking as a first
-
priority concern.

Finally, Billy shook his head.
"
Shit, man,
"
he said glumly.
"
It still isn
'
t ringing any bells.
"

"
Doesn
'
t it seem kind of familiar to you, though
?
"
pressed Dave.
"
I mean, doesn
'
t it give you the feeling there
'
s something about it you oughtta
'
know?
"

"
Nope,
"
shrugged Billy.
"
I
'
m not getting any kind of vibes off it. The only Hoffman I can think of is poor Frank Hoffman back in Wolf
'
s Rock.
"

"
But there
'
s something else
!
"
Dave insisted.

"
Damned if I know what it is,
"
sighed Billy.

Dave grimaced with frustration.
"
It
'
s like...I
know
I
'
ve heard that name before!
I know it
means
something! I just...can
'
t...quite...
get
it!
"

"
You sure you
'
re not thinking of
Dustin
Hoffman
?
"
smirked Billy.

"
Yes
, I
'
m sure
!
"
lanced Dave.
"
It
'
s somebody
else
.
It
'
s...aw, shit!
"
Caught by a sudden riptide of anger, Dave whacked his hands against his thighs.
"
I
don
'
t know
!
"
he snapped bitterly as another car plunged past.

For a moment, neither partner spoke. Fuming, Dave stomped blindly ahead; Billy followed with an easy, quiet shuffle. More cars passed, more potential rides, but the duo ignored them.

"
Well,
"
said Billy at last.
"
Maybe we won
'
t need that gun after all.
"

Dave
didn
'
t
respond; he was so busy thrashing his brain, struggling to make sense of the clue, that Billy
'
s remark barely registered.

"
Won
'
t need a gun if we can
'
t find Larry,
"
offered Billy.

"
We
'
ll find him,
"
Dave growled automatically, defying the pessimism though he was paying very little attention to it.

"
Okey
-
doke. Whatever you say, man,
"
piped Billy, and then he paused briefly.
"
Hey,
"
he started in again.
"
If we can
'
t find him...I mean, if it turns out that we really can
'
t figure out where he is...don
'
t you think we can go to the cops then?
"

"
Don
'
t worry,
"
rumbled Dave.
"
We
'
ll figure it out.
"

There was an instant of silence before Billy continued.
"
Well, you
'
ve got to admit, there
'
s a chance we won
'
t,
"
he said matter
-
of
-
factly.
"
I mean, we just don
'
t have anything to go on.
"

"
The kid
'
s name,
"
muttered Dave.
"
We
'
ve got that.
"